New ActiveLook Application Introduces First-Ever Strava Live Segments Experience on Apple Watch for Runners and Cyclists… in Augmented Reality !

Grenoble, October 23rd, 2023 – MICROOLED, the leading manufacturer of near-eye micro displays, today announced a major update to its ActiveLook application for Apple Watch, which now features direct Strava integration.ActiveLook is the first AR eyewear solution that connects to Apple Watch, and the first Apple Watch application of any type to display Strava Live Segments – a transformative benefit to runners and cyclists who use Apple Watch and Strava.

“Powered byActiveLook” eyewear products connect directly to Apple Watch via Bluetooth, and display fitness data such as heart rate, pace, distance, laps, and other sports metrics. Athletes subscribed to Strava are now able to view and continuously monitor their performance versus prior efforts (“PR”) as well as versus selected competitors in real-time, when using ActiveLook compatible eyewear such as Engo Eyewear.

Strava is the leading subscription platform at the center of connected fitness, with more than 100million active people in more than 190 countries. In addition to Strava integration, the ActiveLook app also incorporates the newest Apple Watch functionality available in Watch OS 10. The ActiveLook + Apple Watch + Strava experience offers runners and cyclists meaningful advantages in motivation, gamification, and live performance insight. 

Real-time performance metrics typically viewed on large, stationary screens are now available to view during live outdoor activity, for training or competition. For the first time,ActiveLook + Strava delivers an advanced digital fitness experience to anyone with an Apple Watch and ActiveLook compatible eyewear – anywhere, anytime.

Developed by MICROOLED, ActiveLook is a unique set of technologies, which include a companion app for smart eyewear. ActiveLook was developed for smart eyewear to deliver best-in-class brightness, light weight, and long battery life for up to12 hours of use – enough to complete a marathon or the bike/run segments of a triathlon**. Athletes choose the metrics they want to monitor for training or competition, such as heart rate, power, pace, cadence, and more. With performance metrics instantly viewable in compatible eyewear, athletes remain focused on their performance – without breaking stride or changing body mechanics to attempt to read a watch on the wrist, or a small cycling computer on handlebars.

In addition to improved ability to manage effort and performance, athletes maintain eyes up, on the road ahead, to gain improved safety and situational awareness, without looking down. 

“The integration of Strava’s Live Segment functionalities into the ActiveLook application add a unique dimension to endurance sports activities by making data significantly more readable and therefore actionable,” said Eric Marcellin-Dibon, CEO of ENGO Eyewear and MICROOLED “ActiveLook benefits athletes the same way that a heads-up display benefits fighter pilots. Our view is that AR has the potential to make people better, smarter, and faster. The new ActiveLook app is a great demonstration of what’s possible with the ActiveLook“Light AR” development platform.

Strava Live Segments unlocks real-time feedback for athletes, providing information on how they’re tracking against their personal and overall top efforts on a segment.ActiveLook also displays advanced Apple Watch metrics such as Running Dynamics(e.g., vertical oscillation and stride length) to enable athletes to see and feel changes in body mechanics in real-time. Until now, this was only possible in post-activity review.

Continuously available information enables athletes to better manage effort, maintain concentration, fluid movement, and to avoid loss of efficiency when looking at the wrist, or handlebars. The ActiveLook experience is similar to viewing the dashboard in a motor vehicle – it’s not distracting and does not interfere with normal vision, however it is instantly accessible when needed. The newActiveLook update also introduces “Widgets” – an intuitive graphical interface which enables instant access to performance metrics.

The new ActiveLook app for Apple Watch is compatible with existing Powered by ActiveLook products, such as ENGO and Julbo.

The ActiveLook application for Apple Watch will also support new cycling metrics and sensor connectivity options introduced by Apple in WatchOS10. For the first time, cyclists using Apple Watch will be able to view cadence, power, and other sensor data directly in eyewear Powered by ActiveLook, without taking eyes off the road. These new data types are in addition to heart rate, speed, distance, running dynamics, and more than 40 data types available in the current application. 

*Strava segments are sections of routes from a few hundred meters to a few kilometers or more, on which Strava users record and compare their performance and progress.There are hundreds of millions of segments all over the world. A ‘King Of theMountain’ ( KOM ) status is awarded to the holder of the best time in each segment. Live Segments is a feature available on certain connected bike computers and watches, allowing athletes to monitor gaps live while running or cycling through a segment. For the first time, ActiveLook brings this feature to the Apple Watch and to connected eyewear. 

**AppleWatch battery life varies by model and use case. The Apple Watch Ultra has the longest battery life, is recommended for endurance athletes, and will provide 8+ hours of continuous activity tracking with a live ActiveLook session and a connection to compatible eyewear.

More information on the ActiveLook application for Apple Watch:

https://www.activelook.net/pages/activelook-apple-watch

ENGO Eyewear“Powered by Activelook”: https://www.engoeyewear.com  

An illustrative video: https://youtu.be/yX5iyIk0Eic

Press Kit : https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1YgMXTZf-YrRmnl6dpd-BSTtK8aM-yH9K?usp=drive_link

About MICROOLED:

MICROOLEDspecializes in the design,production and marketing of OLED microdisplays for near-eye applications(outdoor optical equipment, night vision glasses, ocular equipment for medicaldevices, augmented reality glasses, etc.). MICROOLED is a key partner of theworld’s top technology integrators with a unique technology that combines highresolution, high brightness, and low energy consumption. The company is thelargest manufacturer of its kind outside of Asia, and one of the largestmanufacturers, globally, in its historical markets.

Press contacts 

Jean-FrançoisKitten: +33 6 11 29 30 28 – jf@licencek.com

AnnaAzarova (ENG): + 33 7 49 29 51 04 – a.azarova@licencek.com

Thérèse-MarieCommunal: +33 6 28 16 56 91 – tm.communal@licencek.com

d by Tink; Believe (BLV.PA) – listed on Euronext; Arteris (AIP) listed on Nasdaq). LinkedIn and Twitter: @Ventech_VC

MICROOLED, the leading manufacturer of high resolution, low power consumption OLED microdisplays, announces a €21 million fundraising led Jolt Capital, a specialist in private equity for responsible deeptech companies, with the French sovereign wealth fund Bpifrance via its Innovation Defense vehicle, alongside both historical investors, Cipio Partners and Ventech.

Smartphones and tablet PCs can be used as gateways to augmented reality, but smart glasses will soon become the dominant wearable equipment to do so. They will require the use of embedded microdisplays that can offer high luminance and contrast, but also very low power consumption from super lightweight batteries. Among competing technologies, organic LED (OLED) demonstrate an excellent overall performance compared to classic LED ones, and they are increasingly used for see-through Near-Eye Displays (NED) in viewfinder eyepieces for cameras.

Recent announcements for new mixed-reality headsets that could reach the shelves in 2024 have boosted the AR market, including applications for industry and security segments. The global market for microdisplays designed for AR/VR use could reach $4 billion by 2027, according to a 2022 report by KBV Research, a 4x increase compared to 2020, with 10% of the total value captured by OLED technologies. 15 million units of AR smart glasses could be shipped worldwide by 2027, according to CCS Insight.

Among the handful of international players able to design and manufacture these low energy consumption OLED microdisplays, MICROOLED can address both consumer and recreational markets (the ActiveLook head up display module to be embedded in glasses for real time visual information in hand free activity use cases), and industry/security ones. Since 2007, the Grenoble-based company has developed a wide range of core technologies derived from the semiconductor industry, protected by over 170 granted patents, through a close collaboration with neighbor CEA/Leti research centers. MICROOLED is perfectly positioned to grab leadership in the field of wearable ultra-lightweight HUDs. To cater to the various needs for “light AR” applications, the company offers a line-up of compact products ranging from 0.2” to 0.6” in size, with high resolution and power as low as 1mW.

MICROOLED’s €21 million financing round, led by Jolt Capital and the Innovation Defense Fund managed by Bpifrance and underwritten by the French Defense Innovation Agency to support the scaling of dual-use technologies, will allow MICROOLED to finance the development of the next range of full colour, high luminance OLED solutions, to expand manufacturing capabilities in Grenoble, and to grow international sales teams in the security segment and the B2B ActiveLook platform model. Both historical shareholders, Cipio Partners and Ventech, also reinvested in that new round.

Quotes

We are very pleased with Jolt Capital and Bpifrance joining our cap table, and to see that our historical shareholders Cipio Partners and Ventech continue their support. All of them understand deeptech and the stakes of sovereignty. Innovation is at the heart of our strategy, and this new funding will allow us to double down on our efforts to bring to market the most disruptive technologies in the field of AR.” says Eric Marcellin-Dibon, CEO of MICROOLED.

MICROOLED is the archetypal growth deeptech company that we are looking for at Jolt. Patented core technologies in the field of semicon, a genuine potential to build manufacturing capacity in Europe, a series of fast growing B2B markets, and powerful but energy frugal products. We are delighted to have them join our portfolio and are looking forward to helping them scale to global leadership in light AR.” comments Pierre Garnier, Managing Partner at Jolt Capital.

We are delighted to become a shareholder of MICROOLED, to help them reach another level in terms of technology development, sales, and industrial capacity. MICROOLED is a key global supplier of the near-eye microdisplays market, for both military and civilian applications. It perfectly matches the strategy of the Defense Innovation Fund, aiming at supporting the growth of tomorrow’s deeptech champions.” adds Nicolas Berdou, investment director at Bpifrance.

Contacts

For additional information on MICROOLED please contact: 

Eric Marcellin-Dibon, CEO : eric.marcellin-dibon@microoled.net

Jean-François Kitten (LicenceK) : jf@licencek.com +33 6 11 29 30 28

For additional information on Jolt Capital please contact: 

Philippe Perez : philippe.perez@jolt-capital.com +33 6 23 82 67 19

For additional information on Bpifrance please contact: 

Sophie Santandrea : sophie.santandrea@bpifrance.fr +33 7 88 09 28 17

For additional information on Cipio Partners please contact: 

Sophie von Eberhardt : seberhardt@cipiopartners.com 0177-8907087

For additional information on Ventech please contact: 

Yakun Wang : yakun.wang@ventechvc.com +33 6 16 44 14 87

General media contact (Steele&Holt)

Servane Taslé : servane@steeleandholt.com +33 6 66 58 84 28

Boiler plates

About MICROOLED | https://microoled.net  

With €25 million invested in research  and development since its creation in  2007 in Grenoble’s Tech  Valley, MICROOLED  specializes in the design, production and marketing of OLED  microdisplays  for  near-eye  applications  (outdoor  optical equipment, night vision glasses, ocular  equipment for medical devices,  augmented reality glasses, etc.). In just a few years, MICROOLED has become a key partner of the world’s top technology integrators with a unique technology that combines high resolution, high levels of brightness and low energy consumption. Thanks to its solid stand-out technological expertise, MICROOLED is the leading player in Europe and number two worldwide in its historical markets. The company is now looking to conquering the SporTech market with the roll-out of ActiveLook(R), its disruptive solution for augmented reality glasses designed for sports enthusiasts around the world.

About Jolt Capital | www.jolt-capital.com

Jolt Capital is an independent private equity firm specialized in growth investing in advanced technology companies, with a mission to build future European leaders with a global focus. Since 2011, Jolt Capital invests in European B2B companies with revenues between €10M and €50M. Jolt Capital’s team is composed solely of experienced investors and managers of high-tech companies. Its proprietary AI platform, Jolt.Ninja, enables enriched sourcing, accelerated due diligence and automatic detection of investment or acquisition targets. Jolt Capital is located in Paris, Lausanne, Copenhagen, and Milan.

About the Defense Innovation Fund and Bpifrance | www.bpifrance.fr

Launched in 2020 by French Ministry of Armed Forces, on the initiative of the French Defense Innovation Agency, the Defense Innovation Fund supports with equity and quasi-equity the growth and development of innovative companies with dual-use technologies that play a specific role in the defense sector. The Fund size is €200M. The goal is to hatch new players with critical mass at French and European levels.

Bpifrance Investissement is the management company that handles Bpifrance’s equity investments. Bpifrance is the French national investment bank: it finances businesses – at every stage of their development – through loans, guarantees, equity investments and export insurances. Bpifrance also provides extra financial services (training, consultancy) to help entrepreneurs meet their challenges (innovation, export…). Thanks to Bpifrance and its 50 regional offices, French entrepreneurs can benefit from a unique and efficient community advisor.

Twitter : @Bpifrance / @BpifrancePresse

About Cipio Partners | www.cipiopartners.com  

Founded in 2003, Cipio Partners is a leading investment management and advisory firm for European growth capital & minority buyouts for technology companies. Cipio Partners targets European growth stage technology businesses with €10-50 million in revenue and makes initial investments ranging from €5-15 million. Cipio Partners operates from offices in Munich and Luxembourg.

About Ventech | www.ventechvc.com  

Ventech is a global early-stage venture capital firm with a strong digital focus. Founded in 1998, Ventech backs the most innovative and visionary tech entrepreneurs with a global ambition. With its dual structure platform, Ventech has dedicated funds for Europe (Paris, Munich, Berlin & Helsinki) and Asia (Shanghai and Hong Kong). Since its inception, Ventech has raised over 900m€, and has realized over 200 investments, (including Vestiaire Collective, Passion.io, Ogury, Picanova, Veo, Reveal, Speexx) and over 90 exits (Fintecsystems – acquired by Tink; Believe (BLV.PA) – listed on Euronext; Arteris (AIP) listed on Nasdaq). LinkedIn and Twitter: @Ventech_VC

Discover a concrete example of the impact of the Minalogic competitiveness cluster on a major success story.

This video highlights the achievements of MICROOLED, the different stages that led to its success, as well as the shared history between MICROOLED and the Minalogic competitiveness cluster since their partnership since the company’s inception in 2007.

To see the interview click here !

On Friday, June 2nd, Eric Marcellin Dibon, founder of MICROOLED, showcased his smart glasses while highlighting their features and benefits on the show “Good Morning Business” hosted by Laure Closier and Christophe Jakubyszyn. “Good Morning Business” can be watched on BFM Business.

To see the interview click here !

Eric Marcellin-Dibon CEO of MICROOLED and ActiveLook® was on BFM Business last morning with Jeanne Spicarolen to talk about our connected glasses and our AMOLED microdisplays. 

To see the interview click here !

Suunto®, the iconic Finish brand, opens its API to the Activelook® technology to connect its watches to the world’s lightest AR eyewear 

February 28, 2022 – Two European players, Activelook®, the head-up display technology integrated in smartglasses, and Suunto®, the Finnish manufacturer of sports watches, are pleased to announce their exclusive partnership at Mobile World Congress. Thanks to this partnership, the sport data measured by the Suunto devices can now be displayed on the world’s superlight AR eyewear to enhance the performance of any athlete and outdoor adventurer. 

A unique AR technology for a complete sports experience 

ActiveLook® is an embedded head-up display technology that fits into sleek, lightweight frames and lenses. A dedicated software & hardware technological platform allows any eyewear and sports manufacturers to easily take a leap into AR technology. 

ActiveLook®’s miniaturized and invisible AR technology displays essential performance data without obstructing the field of vision. Specifically, a smart chip integrated into the eyewear projects data to a discrete near-eye display that “melts” into the optics. It gives access in real time to whatever data is monitored by athletes as they train or compete, such as distance covered, elapsed time, their speed, pace, or heartbeat.  

A hands-free coach in AR 

Already recognized as a driver to improving the athlete’s motivation and safety, the real-time data monitored by the Suunto devices adapts to any sport practiced at any level: barometric altitude, route navigation, sport-specific maps, etc., while providing an overview of key indicators (distance, speed, heart rate, cadence, etc.). 

Thus, the combination of ActiveLook®’s AR eyewear with the Suunto sport watches came almost naturally, to offer a totally immersive and renewed sporting experience. Boosted by sensors, the smart watch works as the central calculation unit gathering all the key data needed by the athlete. The smartglasses then send the data to the athlete, ensuring a simple, discrete and intuitive visuals access to their performance. A key to long term sport practice success!

Coaching & Orientation: The immersive experience of running

The projection in the smart glasses provides athletes with the ideal conditions to enhance training, motivation and performance. For outdoor sports, ActiveLook® and Suunto’s blend of expertise is the perfect complement. So, when the athlete is running alone in the wilderness, riding a forest trail on a mountain bike, riding in a pack, training in a group, or tackling difficult slopes and tight turns, the data is automatically projected on the near-eye display. It saves time and allows the athlete to focus on their practice and experience without having to make any additional gesture to access their data. 

It also makes the journey safer.  Thus, featuring “road” alerts that are sent to the athletes while running, the Suunto® watches allow them to adapt their practice, equipment and effort to gain in performance, skill and safety. The experience becomes immersive, as the Activelook® smartglasses unleash the latent value of the high-performance sensors integrated into the Suunto® watches.

Technology at the service of people and sports 

Xavier Bonjour, Marketing & Partnerships Director of ActiveLook®, explains: “With our technology, the head-up display enters a new era: athletic performance and safety. It proves that this technology has become mature! Free of distortion or distractions, the glasses can now offer new services that make sport safer and more fun”.

Janne Kallio Head of Partner Products of Suunto®, adds: “Athletes using Activelook with Suunto watches will be able to fully focus on their experience running in rocky trails or speeding down the mountains with their bikes or skies. This co-operation really brings future innovation to today’s consumers”. 

The complementary nature of connected watches and glasses is ushering in a new era in sports. It extends the already successful indoor sports experience of players such as Peloton and Swift to the outdoors. Activelook® is a new kind of partner for the Finnish watch brand. For the first time, Suunto® is opening up its devices and technology to third-party content. A promising European and technological collaboration in many multi-device uses.

A prototype of the ActiveLook®- compatible Suunto® app was on display during MWC in Barcelona, Spain, February 28 to March 3, 2022, at Hall 7 Stand 7E23. 

The prototype was functional on the latest Suunto® 9 Peak and work with any eyewear integrating ActiveLook®’s technology. 

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Activelook® is on the shortlist for Glomo Mobile Awards 2022 in the Best Connected Consumer Devices category. 

About d’ActiveLook®   

ActiveLook® is the specialist augmented reality division of the French company MICROOLED, which manufactures high-resolution OLED microdisplays with very low energy consumption. ActiveLook® is developing a compact module that can be integrated into eyewear and connected to a smartphone or smartwatch app to manage the data screened on the near-eye display. The system works in conjunction with the ActiveLook app, which is compatible with Garmin and other devices. This solution has already been adopted by sports eyewear manufacturers including Julbo, Engo eyewear, and now Cosmo Connected. https://www.activelook.net/

About Suunto

We stand for adventure. Pioneering exploration has been in our DNA since 1936, when Finnish orienteer Tuomas Vohlonen set out to create a more accurate compass, and subsequently invented a new method for manufacturing liquid‐filled compasses. Today Suunto is at the forefront of design and innovation for sports watches, dive computers and instruments used by adventurers all over the globe.

Eighty-four years removed from our founding, we are proud that Suunto products can take a beating, but are also designed with an everyday aesthetic that reflects our Nordic identity. Suunto’s headquarters and factory are still in Finland. https://www.suunto.com

Cosmo-ActiveLook

ActiveLook® is proud to announce its partnership with Cosmo Connected, the French developer of connected urban micro-mobility safety solutions. Developed by MICROOLED, ActiveLook® offers a miniaturized and invisible augmented reality device that displays navigation information via a Head-up display.

How does it work?
Eyewear equipped with ActiveLook® technology contains an embedded and invisible microdisplay that, depending on the sport concerned, shows route, speed and heart rate data without obstructing the wearer’s view of the horizon. The heart of the ActiveLook® module is based on a monochrome AMOLED display with 304 x 256 pixels resolution consuming less than 1 milliwatt; 3times less energy than the most advanced of its competitors. With a battery life of more than 12 hours, and weighing just 6g, ActiveLook® provides a readable display regardless of ambient light conditions. The ActiveLook® device connects via BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) to a smartphone, watch and to some more specific sensors (heart rate sensor, power sensor, etc.).

CosmoVision eyewear: a partnership between Cosmo Connected and ActiveLook®
As part of its forward development path, ActiveLook® is now looking to the world of sport and urban micro-mobility to meet the daily needs of travel and sport. In this context, mixed reality that delivers navigation and physical performance data considerably improves the safety margin of wearers. Since 2000, screens have become part of our daily activities lives and our lives increasingly depend on them. In developing a new product category of connected eyewear,
ActiveLook® is offering its users the opportunity to follow their route safely with no need to look at their smartphone.

ActiveLook® Founder Eric Marcellin-Dibon says: “Mass adoption of AR relies on discrete integration. Consumers aren’t prepared to put on superhero helmets, but they definitely do want eyewear that helps them to see and do their activity better. We believe that ActiveLook® is the inevitable technological evolution of the eyewear that has been making our lives easier for centuries”.

Cosmo Vision connected eyewear will be available for pre-order at €489 from 18 October via the Cosmo Connected website, and previewed in the Alain Afflelou retail network starting early in December.

In November, we responded to the call for national projects by highlighting the strong growth of
our results, and the market opportunity for ActiveLook®️ augmented reality (AR). #francerelance #madeinfrance #oled

https://www.presences-grenoble.fr/actualites-industrie-grenoble/microoled-redouble-de-visibilite.htm

2020 marked a turning point for MICROOLED, in particular thanks to the fundraising of 8 million last September. Meeting with Eric Marcellin Dibon, CEO and co-founder of MICROOLED.

 1. What were the highlights for MICROOLED in 2020?

EMD : “The past two years have been excellent for MICROOLED. We achieved very good growth by first passing the symbolic barrier of 10 million euros in turnover in 2019 and then the cap of 20 million euros in 2020. Heavy investments were made and allowed for the set up of a second Oled production line. Our production capacity has been multiplied by more than 3 in 2 years. To support this growth, our team grew extensively, welcoming 30 new employees over the past two years.

The year 2020 was also marked by the market launch of EVAD-1 eyewear by our customer Julbo, which works with our ActiveLook system. This is a new turning point for us, because until then we were positioned in a very technical market and we are now entering the sports eyewear market.

2. Has the Covid 19 health crisis had an impact on microoled? 

EMD : The COVID-19 crisis has not had an impact on our sales. On the other hand, the semiconductor sector being a sector under general tension, we have observed difficulties and slowdowns in terms of supplies. This was a barrier to meeting our delivery commitments.

MICROOLED’s production remained operational with a shutdown of only two weeks throughout the year.

Of course, we have reduced travel and demonstrations, which is extremely frustrating, because our products need to be tried out and tested by customers. So we look forward to meeting again with our customers.

3. What are the group’s challenges for 2021? 

EMD : 2021 is shaping up nicely as yet another growth year for the company. The real challenge is to support this rapid growth.

Although 95% of our sales are already made abroad, our ambition is to extend our efforts, particularly in the USA, Asia, and Europe.

Another challenge for 2021 is the further development of Activelook’s strategy with new eyewear brands”

CES® is the most influential tech event in the world — the proving ground for breakthrough technologies and global innovators. We are very proud to have received this award in the Embedded Technologies category.

We also received an award in the Sports & Fitness category, with the EVAD-1 from our customer Julbo, sport glasses set to revolutionize sporting activities.