18 Dec 2024 | AWE Team
2024 XR Market: Key Trends, Top Investments, and a Month-by-Month Recap
AWE EU 2024 AWE USA 2024 XR Trends News

As 2024 unfolds, the XR market continues to see accelerated innovation and growth, driven by mainstream-ready hardware, enterprise solutions, and AI integration. These updates and trends have been featured in our Weekly Spatial Newsletter, your go-to source for staying informed about the latest developments in the XR industry. Subscribe to the Weekly Spatial Newsletter to ensure you never miss a highlight!

From multimillion-dollar investments to strategic acquisitions, this year’s XR landscape reflects a rapidly maturing industry that extends far beyond gaming. Let’s dive into the key trends shaping the market and review major XR news month-by-month.

📊 Key Trends in XR Market Investments for 2024

1. Enterprise and Industrial XR Solutions
Many investments in 2024 have focused on XR applications for enterprise and industrial use cases. Companies are leveraging XR for training, manufacturing, and automotive solutions. Notable investments include: Basemark, Vuzix, KIT-AR.

2. AI-Powered XR Innovations
The convergence of AI and XR is driving new innovations in 2024. AI is being used to enhance XR experiences, from avatars to spatial commerce: Praktika, Augmodo,VoxelSensors.

3. Healthcare and Therapeutic XR Applications
The healthcare sector is increasingly adopting XR for therapy and training: XRHealth, CUREOSITY, Moonhub.

4. Content Creation and Immersive Entertainment
Investment in XR content creation tools and immersive experiences is on the rise: Polycam, Infinite Reality, Cosm.

5. Mixed Reality and Augmented Reality Experiences: Mixed reality continues to attract significant investment, with major players expanding their portfolios: Infinite Reality, MixRift, Rokid.

XR Market News by Month

January

Myrias Optics secures $3M seed investment to deploy new class of optics
Myrias Optics said the funding will be used to meet growing customer demand and interest in structure, materials, and process technology platform. (Source: Auganix)

Virtual reality platform XRHealth scores $6M
XRHealth's platform allows patients with stress and anxiety, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, and neurological conditions to connect with a provider via telehealth and receive recommended therapies on a virtual reality headset.  (Source: mobihealthnews)

Quest Massively Outsold PSVR 2 on Amazon Over the Holiday Season
Tracking Quest 2, Quest 3, and PSVR 2 sales volume on Amazon US gives strong evidence that Quest headsets did quite well this holiday season, while PSVR 2 saw concerningly low sales.  (Source: Road to VR)

February

VoxelSensors secures €9.5M in Seed Funding to boost growth of its XR technology
The investment will drive VoxelSensors' global expansion, tech innovation, and customer engagement for its mobile and XR 'Spatial and Empathic Computing' solution.  (Source: Auganix)

Sports VR tech firm StatusPro raises $20M in Series A round led by Google Ventures
The company will use the extra cash to expand its technology and introduce new sports-themed games, capitalizing on the success of the NFL Pro Era.  (Source: SportsPro)

Polycam Raises $18M to Democratize 3D Creation
Polycam offers a suite of 3D capture and modeling tools, each designed to address a different use case.  (Source: Polycam)

Felix & Paul Studios lands major funding for new location-based VR Experience
(Source: Mixed News)

VoxelSensors acquires EyeWay Vision’s intellectual and industrial property
VoxelSensors strengthens its leading position in Spatial and Empathic Computing for Mobile and XR to unlock next-generation user experiences across various devices.  (Source: GlobeNewswire)

March

Augmented worker platform KIT-AR closes €3.3M in funding
The funding round will help the company to accelerate its growth globally, scale its team and advance its vision to become the definitive platform for augmented workers in the manufacturing industry.  (Source: Auganix)

Looq AI Launches AI-Enabled Digital Twin Platform At Distributech 2024; Secures $2.6M
The platform will now enable the frequent and large-scale digitization of critical infrastructure for true asset intelligence.  (Source: MetaverseInsider)

Moonhub secures $1.4M investment for VR interactive training platform
The platform offers an immersive experience for learners and provides an analytical performance overview for organizations.  (Source: Tech.EU)

Virtuix announces 35 games compatible with its 'Omni One' VR treadmill at launch
Omni One is a complete entertainment system that features a proprietary 360-degree treadmill that enables players to physically run around inside virtual reality games while remaining in the same spot in their place space. (Source: Auganix)

Spatial computing market is expected to reach $469.8 billion
By 2030, the international spatial computing market is expected to reach USD 469.8 billion. It would be increasing at a CAGR of 20.4%. The market has seen huge growth during the forecast period, mainly influenced by the progressions in hardware software and improved adoption all over several sectors. (Source: Travelandtour.com)

After 'Shark Tank' deal with Mark Cuban, Overplay sees 1,000% spike in users
The Overplay founders pitched their app on "Shark Tank" and struck a deal with billionaire Mark Cuban for a $500,000 investment. They've been "riding the wave" ever since. Overplay turns your videos into mobile video games even without any coding knowledge. (Source: bizjournals.com)

Developers to retain 90% of revenue share on HTC's Viveport store
HTC has announced a change in its revenue share for developers on its XR gaming and app storefront Viveport. From April 1st, developers of new titles will keep 90% of all one-time purchase revenue for both PCVR and Vive XR Elite titles as well as apps. This revenue split will be honored back to March 1 for existing titles, the firm said. (Source: Gamesindustry.biz)

Oculus To Meta: 10 Years Of Mark Zuckerberg's Quest For VR
On March 25, 2014 the world learned Mark Zuckerberg purchased Oculus VR for over $2 billion. (Source: UploadVR)


April

Automotive AR software company Basemark raises €22M in series B funding
Basemark stated that it will use the capital to deepen its business with OEMs in Europe and the United States and fund its international expansion to Japan, China, and South Korea. (Source: Auganix)

Ex-Magic Leap team found Trace, raise $2M in funding to become the Canva of AR
Trace provides tools that allow for the easy creation and deployment of immersive content on a range of devices, from phones and AR glasses to spatial computing hardware like the Apple Vision Pro. (Source: Auganix)

May

XR optics technology company OPTIX raises $15M in funding to date
OPTIX states that it develops cutting-edge optics technology and offers advanced solutions for the next generation of augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) products. (Source: Auganix)

Oisoi Studio secures €450K funding for VR art tools
Oisoi Studio created Painting VR, a virtual painter's studio spanning over 10,000 square feet, which offers users unlimited creative expression with innovative tools, infinite paint options, and canvases of all sizes. (Source: Tech.eu)

Liverpool City uses VR in £100m Baltic Merseyrail Construction Project
The project managers trust VR to accurately portray the soon-to-be station, building support and understanding of its multi-million dollar project ahead of the official construction-starting 2025. (Source: XR Today)

Praktika raises $35.5M to use AI avatars to make learning languages feel more natural
The app is adopting a different approach: It lets you create personalized AI-powered avatars to replicate the experience of having a private tutor. (Source: TechCrunch)

Swordsman Studio Lands $2.5M For New PvP VR Combat Game
Best known for creating Swordsman VR, Canadian developer Sinn Studio has begun looking to its next project. (Source: UploadVR)

June

HTC VIVE & Epic Games invest $3.5M in VR production studio Wevr
The company’s projects cover multiple mediums including VR, and range from the critically acclaimed underwater adventure, TheBlu, to collaborative ventures like Harry Potter VR, Waves by Reggie Watts, Jon Favreau’s Gnomes & Goblins, and more. (Source: Auganix)

Rokid Eclipses AR Glasses Kickstarter Goal
Rokid Inc. has outstripped its Kickstarter goal for its new AR glasses offering ‘Rokid AR Lite’ by accumulating 1,692 percent of the investment it was seeking in a single day. (Source: XR Today)

Distance emerges from stealth with $2.7M in funding
Distance, a developer of glasses-free XR technology has today emerged from stealth. As part of its launch announcement, the company stated that it has raised a total of $2.7 million in an oversubscribed pre-seed round led by FOV Ventures and Maki.vc. (Source: Auganix)

Medtech company CUREOSITY secures additional €3.8M for VR therapy
The company develops therapy based on virtual reality and gamification, combining neuroscientific findings and therapeutic practices. (Source: Tech.eu)

Gracia AI announces volumetric video tools and a $1.2M investment
Gracia AI’s platform helps to tackle what the company sees as an issue of “limited diversity in VR content” by providing tools that enable rapid content production and efficient distribution to a wide audience. (Source: Auganix)

BBC invests £500,000 in virtual streaming
The partnership is part of BBC's effort to retain younger viewers. (Source: Tech.eu)

July

Infinite Reality Acquires Digital Twin Company Landvault for $450M
Landvault has developed over 1.2 million square feet of virtual experiences for brands such as Mastercard, Standard Chartered, and Hershey. (Source: Auganix)

GridRaster Selected for Multi-Million Dollar STRATFI Program
STRATFI is open to small businesses with an awarded Phase II Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) contract. (Source: Auganix)

AR startup JigSpace secures $13 million amid Apple Vision Pro release
The company’s demo app has been pre-installed on both the Apple Vision Pro and iPads across the globe. (Source: Smart Company)

August

Metaverse training firm raises £1m to target US market
The latest investment follows the company’s success in winning a seven-figure contract from a major Middle East oil provider. It will help the Newcastle-based business to deliver the project and target other overseas markets, in particular in the US. (Source: businesscloud)

Mixed Reality Gaming Studio MixRift Secures $1.6M Funding to Make the 'Angry Birds' of MR
MixRift says it will use the investment to continue its development and plans to release further titles later in 2024, noting that it’s focusing on sticky game mechanics over “specific titles” to best identify what resonates with audiences. (Source: Road to VR)

Kopin receives $1.5M order for thermal imaging vision system
According to Kopin, the firefighting mask helps to dramatically enhance a firefighter’s effectiveness whilst operating in smoke-filled buildings and saving potential victims. (Source: Auganix)

VR Port Studio Joins Andreessen Horowitz Accelerator, Earning Investment and Validation
Flat2VR Studios has been accepted into the SPEEDRUN accelerator, not only giving the studio a financial boost on its mission to bring VR support to non-VR games, but a good measure of validation too. (Source: Road to VR)

VividQ raises $7.5M Series A for spatial computing
The company plans to expand its U.S. presence, as its total funding exceeds $30M (Source: Tech.EU)

September

Vuzix Secures $20M Strategic Investment from Quanta
Vuzix stated that the investment will help to support the expansion of its waveguide production capabilities, as well as the joint development of new AR/AI smart glasses technologies. (Source: Auganix)

Treble raises €11M to scale its sound simulation platform
The Iceland-based company aims to create a better sounding world using sound simulation and spatial audio technology in anything from homes and concert venues to cars and immersive reality applications. (Source: Tech.eu)

Assistive Reality Firm Earns €850,000 to Enhance Workplace Operations
The secured capital will help the firm fully launch aRdent, an immersive workplace solution, and start the company’s broader market expansion goals (Source: XR Today)

Cosm Raises $250 Million To Build Immersive Sports Experiences Worldwide
Premier League and Georgia Bulldog fans got an immersive viewing experience on an 87-foot LED screen. But who's behind the screen? (Source: Huddle Up)

ZEISS to license CREAL’s technology to create a digital vision care platform
In an industry first, CREAL will integrate its light field display technology into ZEISS’ vision care devices, greatly simplifying vision tests, and thereby enhancing the patient and eye-care practitioner user experience. (Source: CREAL)

Irish start-up Imvizar raises €1.5M
Imvizar’s new technology disrupts this paradigm by offering an intuitive, user-friendly interface that allows anyone, regardless of technical expertise, to craft high-quality AR experiences. (Source: syncni)

3D Cloud Secures $20M Growth Capital Investment
3D Cloud’s platform provides retailers with a scalable solution for managing and delivering 3D product visualizations to enhance customer engagement. (Source: Auganix)

SURGAR secures €11M for Augmented Reality surgical solution
SURGAR's AR software merges the patient's digital twin (obtained through MRI or CT scans) with the minimally invasive (laparoscopic) view in real-time. (Source: Tech.eu)

Finnish startup Distance Technologies secures €10M led by Google Ventures (GV)
Distance Technologies transforms transparent surfaces into immersive 3D XR displays without the need for headsets. (Source: Vestbee)

October

Infinite Reality Announces Strategic Investment in Super League
Transaction will fuel the formation of a leading, global audience network operating at the intersection of pop culture, entertainment, and immersive technology. (Source: Auganix)

Augmodo Raises $5.3M to Scale Spatial AI Commerce Tech
Augmodo relies on computer vision, augmented reality, AI, spatial computing, 3D mapping, data analysis and more, but it starts with simple wearable tech. (Source: BusinessWire)

Infinite Reality Expands its XR Portfolio with Zappar Acquisition
Infinite Reality will expand its product portfolio with Zappar’s technology suite, including the company’s end-to-end XR software, an affordable mixed reality headset, and Accessible QR (AQR) code solutions. (Source: Auganix)

Beyond Presence's founder nabs $3.1M to build lifelike avatars
Beyond Presence hasn’t released its technology into the world just yet, but it is close, Awais Shafique, the startup’s CEO and co-founder, told TechCrunch. (Source: TechCrunch)

November

AllFocal Optics secures $5.3M for mixed reality lenses
AllFocal Optics have developed a focus lens to reduce discomfort for those using virtual or mixed reality. (Source: Tech.eu)

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