Season's Greetings from Varjo. We are looking forward to the new year 2019, announcing and shipping our first VR product – and launching a new era of immersive computing for professionals.
This year, we’ve been busy perfecting our human-eye resolution VR technology together with our world-class partners. In June, we publicly demonstrated our cinematic-quality Mixed Reality technology for the first time. And this autumn, we announced our $31 million B round led by Atomico. To top it off, the Varjo team has doubled in size, now standing at over 100 people from 12 different nationalities.
Successful Early Access Program With over 2,000 partner requests from companies all over the world, Varjo selected 40+ companies to work with during 2018 to develop our first VR device for professional use. By joining forces with companies such as Airbus, Audi, SAAB, Sellen, and Volkswagen, we have been able to perfect our upcoming VR device for demanding use cases in training and simulation, industrial design, and architecture, engineering and construction. Together with our partners, we’ll tell more about the new age of professional VR in early 2019.
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Introducing Cinematic-Quality XRIn June, we unveiled Varjo’s Mixed Reality (XR) vision at Augmented World Expo 2018 in Santa Clara, USA. Our founder Urho gave a keynote about Varjo’s pioneering video see-through XR technology. We also introduced a test shoot that was captured real-time through our early prototype, merging
reality and augmented content in cinematic fidelity for the first time. The above film shows how you can seamlessly jump between the real and the virtual worlds, as well as see the interplay of lights and shadows. Watch the making of video.
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Varjo Making Headlines in 2018
Award-Winning Technology & Creativity
This year, we took home awards from multiple prestigious competitions and events. Here’s a few of them: - Best Startup, Augmented World Expo
- Best Exhibitor, Volkswagen KTVT Awards for Virtual Technologies
- Newcomer of the Year,
Nordic Startup Awards
- Best Internet Video Technology, The Lovie Awards (bronze)
- 3 x Communicator Awards in New York for the film “The Resolution Revolution”: Best Branded B2B content, Best Technology Video and Best Art Direction in Craft
One of the Biggest B Rounds in the Nordics
In October, our latest investment round of $31 million was announced. The Series B round was led by Europe’s most experienced VC Atomico, and it saw new strategic investor Siemens Next47 joining the round with participation from Series A investors EQT Ventures and Lifeline Ventures. The investment was one of the biggest B rounds in the Nordics this year. We’re humbled to welcome Atomico and the Siemens-backed Next47 to our mission of revolutionizing computing.
Review of Our Latest Prototype In early December, we showcased our latest VR prototypes at Slush in Helsinki and at VRX in San Francisco for selected partners and press. Road to VR wrote a glowing commentary of the experience: “Looking through the company’s latest prototype, which they say is nearly production-ready, the view is quite astounding—as
close to any 'wow' moment I’ve had in my years covering an industry full of exciting innovations.” Read the full hands-on review here.
Shot through HTC Vive Pro in November, 2018.
Shot through Varjo's latest prototype in November, 2018.
As we are now approaching the commercial launch of our product, we want to thank you for being a part of our journey in 2018. 2019 will be a defining year for us – and in the upcoming months we'll share more stories about how human-eye resolution VR will transform professional work across industries. Until then, we wish you a wonderful holiday season. – Team Varjo
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