Brilliance raises €6 million to develop RGB laser chips for augmented reality displays

The European photonics sector is quietly building the hardware foundations for the next generation of augmented reality devices, with integrated chip-scale solutions poised to solve the miniaturisation and power consumption challenges that have long constrained consumer AR adoption. As major technology companies accelerate their AR hardware roadmaps, the demand for compact, efficient display components is creating significant opportunities for European deep tech startups operating at the intersection of semiconductor design and optical engineering.

Brilliance, an Enschede-based photonics startup, has raised €6 million in a funding round led by Cottonwood Technology Fund to scale development of its integrated RGB laser chip platform for AR displays and other projection applications. Existing investors PhotonVentures, Oost NL, and PhotiX also participated in the round, which follows an initial €2 million seed investment secured in November 2023. The capital will support the company’s push towards delivering custom solutions to customers and preparing for initial production by the end of 2026.

Cottonwood Technology Fund leads round as AR hardware demand accelerates

The investment reflects growing investor confidence in European photonic integrated circuit (PIC) technology as a critical enabler for next-generation display systems. Cottonwood Technology Fund, which focuses on deep technology investments, is joined by returning backers who have supported Brilliance since its earliest stages, indicating continued conviction in the company’s technology roadmap.

Founded in 2023 by CEO Tim Tiek and CTO Douwe Geuzebroek, Brilliance has developed a technology platform that integrates laser sources with silicon nitride photonic circuits on a single chip. This approach replaces the bulky optical assemblies traditionally used in light engines for AR glasses and head-up displays, enabling significant reductions in size, weight, and power consumption whilst delivering higher brightness and a wider field of view.

“The capital will support scaling development, delivering custom solutions, and preparing for initial production by year-end,” said Tim Tiek, highlighting the company’s transition from research-stage development to commercial readiness.

The company’s technology addresses what many in the industry consider the primary bottleneck to mainstream AR adoption: the light engine. Current AR display systems rely on discrete optical components that are too large and power-hungry for comfortable, all-day wearable devices. Brilliance’s integrated approach promises to deliver what it describes as “the smallest and most efficient RGB laser” for projection applications, a claim that, if validated at production scale, could position the company as a key supplier to AR device manufacturers.

European photonics ecosystem strengthens position in global AR supply chain

Brilliance’s raise adds to a growing body of evidence that Europe’s photonics ecosystem, particularly the Netherlands’ Twente region and broader PhotonDelta cluster, is developing into a globally competitive hub for AR-enabling technologies. Belgian startup Swave Photonics raised €27 million in 2025 for its holographic extended reality platform, whilst several other European companies are advancing complementary display and sensing technologies.

The AR market itself continues to attract substantial investment, with industry analysts projecting significant growth as enterprise and consumer use cases mature. The convergence of improved display optics, more powerful mobile processors, and advancing AI capabilities is expected to drive a new wave of AR device launches in the coming years, creating demand for the type of component-level innovation that Brilliance is developing.

Beyond AR glasses, the company’s RGB laser chip technology has applications in automotive head-up displays, industrial laser systems, and other display architectures, providing multiple potential revenue streams as the technology scales towards production.

With this funding secured, Brilliance is positioned to move from prototype to production within the year, a milestone that would mark an important step in demonstrating Europe’s capacity to compete in the global race to build the optical infrastructure for spatial computing.