Swave Photonics, a fabless semiconductor company developing true holographic display technology, has announced two significant developments as it continues to scale: the appointment of a new chief financial officer and an extension to its series A funding round.
Swave announced a €6 million (US $6.9 million) follow-on investment to its €27 million (US $28.3 million) series A round, bringing total capital raised to over €43 million (US $45 million). The round was led by IAG Capital Partners, with new participation from Samsung Ventures. According to the company, the funding will support further development of its Holographic Extended Reality (HXR) platform and accelerate commercialization efforts.
Additionally, Derek Jensen joins the company as CFO and head of corporate development. He brings experience from roles at SK Hynix, Magic Leap, GlobalFoundries, and Xperi, along with over a decade in semiconductor investment banking. Most recently, he served as CFO at SK Growth Opportunities Corp., where he oversaw a multibillion-dollar SPAC transaction leading to a NASDAQ listing. In his new role, Jensen will oversee finance, fundraising, and strategic development, reporting to CEO Mike Noonen.
Swave’s HXR technology, which eliminates the need for waveguides using diffractive photonics on CMOS chips, has attracted attention for its potential in next-generation spatial and AI computing (see our interview from CES 2025).
What do we think? The addition of a CFO with deep financial and semiconductor expertise is a sensible move as Swave matures and moves closer to commercialization. The follow-on investment signals that the original A round wasn’t a one-off—new strategic backers like Samsung Ventures and repeat participation from IAG suggest that some investors see this as a second chance to get in. We estimate this funding extends Swave’s runway into 2027, by which time the company should be positioned to demonstrate product maturity that could support a larger B round.
As per our previous story at CES, we saw several tech demos in the Swave suite, but there was only one they were comfortable with me photographing. We can attest the technology is in a working state.
Over a 30-year career in technology marketing and communications, David Harold has pushed GPU boards for ATI, Matrox, and VideoLogic, and IP for Imagination Technologies. He’s been “in the room” for some of the most exciting developments in GPU and gaming. He’s now helping start-ups in cleantech, edutech, and semiconductors, with strategy, marketing, communications, fundraising, and business development. When he’s not doing that, he’s “having an opinion.” Like the A-Team, if you need him, you probably know where to find him ([email protected]).
