RealWear, Inc., the leader in knowledge transfer and training platforms for the connected worker, announced today an $80 million Series B financing round. RealWear will use the funds, which are a combination of equity and debt, to continue market expansion and accelerate its platform development. RealWear teamed with JPMorgan Chase & Co. to architect an investment syndicate led by Teradyne, Inc. (TER), a global leader in industrial automation, and includes Bose Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures LLC (QCOM), Kopin Corporation (KOPN), and investors from JPMorgan’s (JPM) Private Bank.
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RealWear’s success can be attributed to building industrial wearables that perform in extremely hazardous conditions, such as when servicing a wind turbine (Photo: Business Wire)
From its inception, RealWear has focused on products that are specifically designed for the connected enterprise workforce to improve job satisfaction, productivity and, most importantly, safety. Its industrial hands-free wearable computers enhance, rather than diminish, a worker’s situational awareness while delivering vital information on demand in the harshest of environments.
RealWear achievements in the last 18 months include:
- 15,000+ HMT systems shipped;
- 1,300+ enterprise customers globally;
- 120+ workforce software applications.
“The augmented reality enterprise market has experienced a great deal of hype, but long-term, real-world solutions have been thin on the ground,” said Tom Mainelli, IDC Group VP of Devices and AR/VR. “RealWear smartly recognized the need for a no-nonsense head-mounted display and has delivered no-frills products that help frontline workers to get their jobs done more safely and efficiently.”
RealWear Cofounder and CEO, Andy Lowery, said RealWear used this same pragmatic philosophy in its fund-raising strategy. “Our seed investments came from friends, family, early customers, suppliers and business partners. Their faith carried us to our Series A, led by Columbia Ventures Corporation. CVC’s experience in heavy industry, one of our primary markets, made it a perfect match.”
Lowery continued: “It was critical that RealWear’s new investors be business and technology leaders. Teradyne, Bose Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures and Kopin fit that bill.”
“RealWear has created a powerful platform that aligns with our vision for a safer, more productive work environment powered by easy to use, rapid ROI automation solutions,” said Mark Jagiela, Teradyne CEO and President. “RealWear’s strategy to leverage the power of advanced technologies like Augmented Reality to assist workers across a wide range of tasks has many parallels with Teradyne’s industrial automation strategy and we look forward to helping RealWear continue their exciting growth.”
“Qualcomm Ventures invests in companies that drive innovation and impact across industries. RealWear has experienced strong growth and is well positioned to become a leading platform for connected workers everywhere,” said Richard Tapalaga, Director, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and Investment Director, Qualcomm Ventures. “We are excited to invest in RealWear as we believe its unique platform will help drive value to the entire IoT ecosystem.”
RealWear’s Series A lead, CVC, and many early seed investors have taken this opportunity to increase their investments in Vancouver, Washington-based RealWear. Mr. Lowery concluded, “The continued support of our ecosystem is tremendously gratifying for the entire RealWear team.”
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About RealWear
RealWear® is a knowledge transfer platform company providing in-situ information and in-the-field training with software and hardware to help people improve safety and increase productivity at work. The company’s flagship product, the HMT-1®, is the best ruggedized head-mounted, wearable, Android-class tablet computer that frees a worker’s hands for dangerous jobs. With an ever-growing number of hands-free software solutions, enterprise customers gain instant knowledge with remote mentor, document navigation, industrial IoT visualization and digital workflow solutions. Global leaders in energy, manufacturing and automotive industries trust the HMT-1 and HMT-1Z1 to empower and connect their global workforce.
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