VANCOUVER, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--RealWear:
- RealWear raises $17 million in Series A funding round led by Columbia Ventures Corporation
- RealWear is ahead of competition with a solutions-oriented wearable device for industry that has already shipped with strong partners and customer deployments
- Funding will accelerate production and meet global demand for HMT-1
- HMT-1 is the world’s first AR wearable designed for extreme industrial environments
Today RealWear™ announced that it has raised $17 million in its Series A funding round led by Columbia Ventures Corporation. The funding will be used to meet the market’s demand for a hands-free communications and connected experience for industry. RealWear’s flagship product, the HMT-1® device, is the first fully voice-controlled ultra-rugged wearable device using augmented-reality (AR) for noisy industrial environments including oil and gas, telecommunications, utilities and manufacturing.
“After seeing the HMT-1 device at work in industrial facilities, it was clear that it is the only device which delivers on the AR and wearable promise for industry today,” said Ken Peterson, CEO, Columbia Ventures. “RealWear’s vision is compelling to us, with the potential to transform how work gets done in industry, empowering industrial knowledge workers with real-time information, without encumbering their hands. RealWear has proven that it has the experience and ambition to make AR and wearable solutions function in actual industrial use cases, and an unlimited number of other uses to explore.”
“We are thrilled to see the investment community support our vision for the future of industry,” said Andy Lowery, Co-founder and CEO, RealWear. “RealWear is committed to delivering innovative solutions that connect the frontline worker to the enterprise to perform at his or her best.”
Since RealWear’s formation in 2016, it has already:
- Taken its prototype to beta product release in only 8 months
- Moved from beta to mass production in only 6 months
- Shipped thousands of units to more than 200 global customers
- Developed 75 partnerships with software and services providers
- Won Frost & Sullivan and Wearable Product Innovation Award in 2017 for the HMT-1 device
- Obtained type-approval in 35 countries, which is granted to a product that meets a minimum set of regulatory, technical and safety requirements.
RealWear is led by a team of seasoned executives and human factors experts from the ultra-rugged smartphone, smart glasses micro display and industrial augmented reality spaces including Chief Executive Officer Andy Lowery (Raytheon), President & Chief Product Officer Sanjay Jhawar (Sonim), Chief Technology Officer Dr. Chris Parkinson (Kopin), Chief Revenue Officer Brian Hamilton (Daqri) and VP of Industrial Design & Human Factors Stephen Pombo (Flextronics).
About HMT-1
HMT-1 is the first and only AR-enabled wearable device on the market that offers remote mentor video calling, document navigation, guided workflow, mobile forms and industrial IoT data visualization. The HMT-1 has a hands-free, voice-controlled user interface, provided in 10 languages, allowing workers to operate the tools and equipment needed for the job, even if climbing a scaffold or tower, in extremely noisy, dusty or even dangerous environments. Allowing the worker to maintain full situational awareness and maximum productivity, HMT-1 is faster, safer and smarter than either a tablet or smart glasses. Adopted by dozens of leading global corporations, the HMT-1 is sold direct through RealWear and its channel partners.
About RealWear
RealWear is transforming how work gets done in enterprise with the HMT-1, the world’s first voice-driven, hands-free, head-mounted wearable computing device purpose-built for light and heavy industry. Implementing hardware, software, cloud, and AI, RealWear is the future of the connected industrial worker. For more information, visit www.realwear.com
