Published on: April 3, 2025 / update from: April 3, 2025 - Author: Konrad Wolfenstein
$ 13 million for Cellid: breakthrough for AR glasses that are suitable for everyday use? -Japan's pioneer of the next generation of AR glasses-Image template: Cellit / creative image: Xpert.digital
AR glasses for everyone? Cellid's vision takes shape
Cellid's WaveGuide technology: The key to immersive AR experiences
Cellid Inc., a Japanese company, has established itself as a leading developer of augmented reality (AR) glasses displays and spatial recognition systems. With its revolutionary waveguide technology and ultra-light AR glasses prototypes, the company is at the top of the innovation in the AR area. In February 2025, Cellid secured a financing of $ 13 million, which underlines the growing importance of its technology. This report analyzes Cellid's technological developments, its business strategy and positioning in the increasingly competitive AR market.
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Corporate overview and financing
Cellid specializes in the development of advanced display modules for AR glasses, with a focus on waveguides and spatial detection systems for the next generation devices. The company is pursuing the vision of merging the physical and digital world, which is reflected in its slogan “Blending the Physical and Digital Worlds”. With its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, Cellid has positioned itself as an important player in the global AR industry.
In February 2025, Cellid announced that they received a total of $ 13 million (2 billion yen) from a private placement, led by the Development Bank of Japan Inc. The other investors include More Management Co., Ltd., KVIF-I LIMITED Partnership (a joint venture between Kyocera Corporation and Global Brain Corporation), 15th), 15th) Rock, Inc. and FFG Venture Business Partners Co., LTD .. This financing round increases Cellid's total financing to around $ 33 million ($ 5.2 billion).
Akira Nagai, Senior Vice President of the Development Bank of Japan Inc., said that AR glasses as wearables of the next generation have received more and more attention in recent years. However, an innovation among the lenses, a central component, is crucial for their complete distribution. Cellid will support the financing in expanding your product range, driving mass production and winning both national and international top talents.
Management team and vision
Under the direction of CEO Satoshi Shiraga, Cellid pursues the goal of making AR glasses an everyday device. Shiraga emphasized that this was a revolutionary step into the future and that AR glasses could become the next indispensable device according to smartphones. In order to implement this vision, Cellid focuses on overcoming the current challenges in the field of AR glasses, especially in terms of weight, design and user-friendliness.
Pioneering AR technologies
Cellid's core business includes the development of displays for AR glasses and spatial detection systems. Your pioneering technologies have the potential to fundamentally change the way we interact with the digital world.
WaveGuide technology
Cellid has positioned itself as a leader in the development of advanced WaveGuide technologies for AR glasses. WaveGuides are special optical components that guide light from a projector to the eye of the user and show digital content into the field of vision.
The company offers two main types of WaveGuides:
- Glass-WaveGuide: offers an impressive diagonal field of vision (FOV) of 60 degrees, which is one of the largest in the industry. This version provides clear, high-resolution images and was specially optimized for AR applications that require a wide range of vision.
- Plastic wave guide: With a FOV of 30 degrees, this version is particularly noteworthy due to its extremely low weight of only 3 grams. Cellid has successfully implemented the development of the first mass-produced, completely colored plastic wave guide with high brightness and efficiency. This innovation enables AR glasses with the same format as ordinary glasses, which is crucial for daily use.
Cellid's technological excellence was recognized by the awarding of the “2024 Display Component of the Year Award” by The Society for Information Display (SID), the world's largest display society. Cellid is only the second Japanese company after large corporations such as Sony, Toray and Japan Display that has received this prestigious award.
Microcrojectors
In addition to her waveguides, Cellid develops ultra -compact microcrojectors with a volume of only about 1.8 cubic centimeters. These projectors are an essential part of the AR glasses system and work seamlessly with the waveguides to create clear, lively images.
A special feature of Cellid technology is its flexibility in projector integration. The WaveGuides can be used with different projection types, including DLP (Digital Light Processing), LBS (Laser Beam Scanning), Micro LED and Laser-R-Scanning. This versatility enables manufacturers to select the optimal type of project location based on specific requirements and advantages.
Spatial detection technologies
In addition to hardware development, Cellid has also developed proprietary spatial identification software, in particular Cellid Slam (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping). This technology enables AR glasses, objects and positions in real space to be recognized, which enables a seamless AR experience.
The integration of highly developed AR display hardware with real-time room recognition software is an essential aspect of cellid's approach to “fusion of the physical and digital world”. This combination makes extraordinary information tools accessible, more practical and convenient for users worldwide.
Reference Design: The AR glasses of the future
In November 2024, Cellid announced the publication of her “Reference Design”, a brilliant type-AR SMARTGLASSES prototype, which serves as a verification model. This prototype demonstrates the most advanced technologies for smart glasses that Cellid has developed.
Design and specifications
The reference design is characterized by the following features:
- Lightweight design: With a weight of only about 58 grams, the glasses are as light as normal glasses. This low weight reduces fatigue considerably even with a long time in comparison to conventional head-mounted display types.
- High-resolution cameras and sensors: Equipped with an 8MP high-resolution camera with 84-degree wide angle and a 3-axis-in -ir ceiling sensor, the glasses can recognize objects and positions in real space and offer the user a more seamless AR experience.
- Connectivity and development platform: The glasses can be connected to Android and Windows devices and uses its own SDK for the development, which enables the structure of AR rooms and AR content with excellent user interface and user experience for every application.
- AI integration: The SDK of the Reference Design is equipped with an API for generative AI by default, which enables use in a variety of applications. For example, the glasses can automatically detect devices and display usage and operating instructions if the user asks about the use of a device.
Areas of application
The Reference Design aims to improve AR experiences in different areas:
- Medicine: AR glasses can provide medical specialists important information in real time while treating patients, which increases efficiency and precision.
- Entertainment: AR can create immersive entertainment experiences that have digital content merged with the real world.
- Industry and manufacturing: By providing free-handed instructions and information, AR glasses can increase operational efficiency and enable remote controls.
- Everyday use: With the integration of translation functions and directions, the glasses are ideal for everyday use, similar to smartphones.
Business strategy and market positioning
Cellid follows a multi-stage business strategy to launch its technologies and promote the spread of AR glasses.
Partner programs
In order to build an ecosystem around your AR technologies, Cellid has launched two important partner programs:
- Business Development Partner program: This program enables the joint development and demonstration of applications for creating new business areas with AR glasses. Participating companies receive support in business and service design, demonstrations and application development that are suitable for AR glasses.
- OEM-partner program: This program enables companies that want to develop their own AR glasses to develop their own brand-ar-glasses based on the reference model. This opens the market for a wider range of devices and promotes the spread of technology.
CEO Satoshi Shiraga emphasized the importance of the reference model presented and explained that work was being done to create an ecosystem that promotes the further development of AR glasses and expands the market. This ecosystem is intended to offer a place where developers, companies and users come together, work together and grow together.
Market positioning
Cellid positions itself as a technology leader in a market that, according to IDC and the Japan Intellectual Property Research Institute, faces significant change. The trend is from mobile devices to AR/MR glasses, since computers continue to become more user-friendly and more personalized.
By providing their technology to various customers, including AR glasses manufacturers, companies and consumers, Cellid aims to expand the AR market as a whole. Global Brain, one of her investors, emphasizes: "Cellid has high technical skills and an engineering team as well as sufficient success balance sheet to maintain its leading position in the expanding AR market."
Tass appearances and public presence
In order to present their technologies and build partnerships, Cellid actively participates in important technology fairs:
CES 2025
In January 2025, Cellid presented her groundbreaking innovations at CES 2025, one of the world's largest technology fair in Las Vegas. Visitors were able to experience the self-developed WaveGuide lens and the AR glasses reference design, which can be seamlessly integrated into everyday life. The demonstrations showed practical applications and highlighted the thin, light design and the unsurpassed perspective.
MWC Barcelona 2025
In March 2025, Cellid exhibited at the MWC Barcelona 2025, the world's largest mobile phone exhibition. The exhibition included the reference design for the latest waveguide and brilliant types of glasses as well as demonstrations of the latest Waveguide products. This international presence underlines Cellid's ambitions to become a global player in the AR market.
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Market trends and growth opportunities
The AR glasses market is growing steadily, whereby large companies are expected to enter the market. With the advent of generative AI, AR-glasses develop and become familiarly such as smartphones and smartwatches, as companies are strengthening their development worldwide.
The main challenge for the industry is to develop technology that combines the lightness of ordinary glasses with high -performance functions such as wide visibility, high brightness and high resolution. Cellid's advanced technology for key components, including thin and light WaveGuide lenses and micro-projectors that support a wide range of visits, drives the company's efforts to develop light AR glasses for everyday use with state-of-the-art design.
Strategic initiatives
With the recently received financing, Cellid plans to advance the following initiatives:
- Production calming: Strengthening the mass production system to accelerate the market launch of your products.
- Talentaquisition: extraction of top forces in Japan and abroad to strengthen their technological development skills.
- Technological further development: Continuation of the innovation for WaveGuides and micro-projectors as well as expansion to additional functions such as eye tracking and gesture recognition.
- Global expansion: Cooperation with international partners to promote the worldwide distribution of their AR technologies.
Visionary AR glasses: Cellid's way to digital transformation
Cellid has established itself as a leading innovator in the field of AR brilliant technology, with groundbreaking developments in waveguides, micro-projectors and spatial recognition systems. She has brought her commitment to the development of light, everyday AR glasses to the top of a market that is ready for considerable growth.
With its recently secured financing and strategic partnerships, Cellid is well positioned in order to promote the development and spread of AR glasses as the next generation of devices according to smartphones. Their vision of merge the physical and digital world could fundamentally change the way we interact with information and our surroundings.
The challenges that lie in front of them are considerable - from scaling production to navigation in an increasingly competitive market. Nevertheless, Cellid's technological leadership position and strategic vision indicate that they are well equipped to master these challenges and to help shape the future of AR technology.
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