Looking Glass Factory: Next Gen Holographic Displays
Enabling enterprises and individuals to showcase 3D designs
Alumni Ventures portfolio company Looking Glass Factory is building the next generation of digital viewing experiences with fully functional holographic displays, no headgear required. The company’s high-performance inexpensive 3D solution has already become the most widely adopted holographic display.
Meet Looking Glass Factory CEO Shawn Frayne
AV Managing Partner Cainon Coates hosts a conversation with Looking Glass Factory Co-Founder and CEO Shawn Frayne. A graduate of MIT, Shawn has been awarded dozens of patents around the world, received the “Breakthrough Award” from Popular Mechanics, and was featured as one of the “20 Best Brains Under 40” by Discover Magazine. Watch this engaging discussion to learn more about holograms, Looking Glass, and the company’s experience working with Alumni Ventures.
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Significant Market Opportunity
Holographic displays are part of a burgeoning market, which hit $1.8 billion in 2022 and is anticipated to surpass $14.2 billion by 2030. Unfortunately, up until now, traditional 3D hardware has been designed with inconvenient UX, often requiring headgear and other technology to function. Additionally, issues with form, performance, and cost have prevented widespread holographic adoption.
Looking Glass Factory has generated impressive traction in sales, revenue, and product development by pursuing many different industries, including medical visualization, experiential marketing, 3D storytelling, scientific visualization, and drug discovery. In addition, the company aims to normalize holographic display technology for millions of people with smartphones.
Hitting Milestones
- Home
2018
Launched the world’s first holographic display developer kit for 3D creators to see their work come to life. - Home
2019
Started shipping the world’s first 8K light field display, called Looking Glass 8K. - Home
2020
Developed a more user/consumer-friendly and affordable desktop holographic display called the Looking Glass Portrait. - Home
2021
Released a suite of new upgrades that will aid in the creation of 3D holographic images for the company’s lineup of holographic interfaces. - Home
2022
Announced its 8K-resolution, 65-inch display that is five times larger than any other 3D holographic display. - Home
2023
Introduced Looking Glass Liteforms, a platform that brings conversational holographic AI characters to life.
Competitive Moats and Influential Lead Investor
Looking Glass Factory is years ahead of the competition in cost, technology, and intellectual property, having already shipped thousands of units while others are still only experimenting in the field. The company has also developed software to help generate display content, which helps strengthen its competitive moat through a software-product ecosystem and patent portfolio.
Looking Glass is backed by established investors like Foundry Group, which led the company’s $10 million Series A in 2017 and $7.5 million Series A1 in 2020. Co-Founded in 2007 by Brad Feld, Foundry Group manages more than $3 billion and has invested in hundreds of companies and dozens of venture funds. The firm’s investments include:
- Zynga ($7 billion IPO in 2011)
- Fitbit ($6 billion IPO in 2015)
- SendGrid ($2 billion acquisition in 2018)
Brad was an early investor and board member for Fitbit — a consumer hardware-software ecosystem with many corollaries to Looking Glass.
When I ponder my life in 2040, I am confident that I will not be spending 12 hours a day in videoconferences on a 2D display. I’m also not going to have a headset encapsulating my face. I’m ready for my holographic future.
Leveraging Alumni Connections
Alumni Ventures’ investment in Looking Glass Factory was sponsored by Castor Ventures, our fund for the MIT community. Looking Glass and its investor syndicate have strong MIT connections:
- Shawn Frayne (SB ’03), Co-Founder and CEO of Looking Glass Factory
- Brad Feld (SB ’87, Sloan ’88) of Foundry Group (Series A & A1 lead)
- Joichi Ito (MIT Media Lab Director, ’11-’19) of Neoteny (Series A investor)
Our team of ~50 full-time investing professionals regularly leverages their alumni connections and personal networks to source promising investment opportunities.
How We’re Involved
- $9.5 million Series A2 alongside Reform Ventures and SOSV
AV Funds Invested in Looking Glass Factory
- Castor Ventures (for the MIT community)
- Chestnut Street Ventures (for the Penn community)
- Lakeshore Ventures (for the UChicago community)
- Towerview Ventures (for the Duke community)
- Deep Tech Fund (disruptive tech)
- Total Access Fund (our broadest fund)
- Syndication (opportunities for AV investors)
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