AR smart glasses brand INMO completes the pre-A round of financing worth tens of millions of yuan, led by Matrix Partners

INMO was established in 2020. Its founder Yang Longsheng used to be the general manager of the wearable division of Coolpad Group. The team has more than 50 employees now, and the R&D personnel account for 70%. The core employees are all from Huawei, Xiaomi and other mobile phone manufacturers that have created many wearable products with shipments in the tens of millions units.

Picture: wearing an INMO AIR glasses

INMO Air——the first mass-produced consumer-grade AR smart glasses

According to the introduction of INMO’s co-founder and CMO Lu Yifei, the company is committed to creating an “AR glasses for daily use” .Focusing on the concept of “for daily use”, INMO has pioneered the wireless AR smart glasses category, a brand-new technology path, and its product INMO Air will be officially mass-produced and put on sale at the end of the year.

INMO Air pioneers the wireless AR smart glasses category that can be used without a mobile phone, supports independent computing, and has a frequency of up to 2.0GHz. Its weight is less than 80g, which is equivalent to ordinary sunglasses. It can be used continuously for 4 hours or with a standby for 72 hours, which can satisfy the needs of daily wear. Meanwhile, based on optical waveguide technology, INMO teams up with suppliers to re-innovate its optical display system by developing the vertical array optical waveguide display technology. Compared with the previous side projection display technology, INMO Air are completely unobstructed at the front end of the glasses, very close to ordinary glasses in appearance.

It is worth mentioning that, co-designed with well-known domestic fashion brand designers and combining the popular design aesthetics of AERO functional trend, the shape of INMO Air is very futuristic and technological. So, in addition to its “black technology” attribute, it also has the attribute of an accessory.

According to Lu Yifei, in terms of software, INMO has developed its own IMOS based on the Android system. Its R&D personnel have carried out deep optimization in background management and power consumption optimization, which greatly improves the product’s battery life. At the same time, focusing on the product concept of “lightweight”, INMO has reconstructed the spatial positioning algorithm and target tracking algorithm to ensure that excellent AR display effects can also be achieved under low computing power. In the initial stage of application, INMO Air can be used as “a smart assistant” in work and life, which can implement functions such as memo reminder, dialogue translation and AR navigation, allowing its users to experience the convenience of scene applications such as watching videos anytime and anywhere and snapshot from the first perspective. INMO Air highlights an “unfelt” use from the first perspective, while freeing hands, allowing its users to get a better experience than mobile phones in many daily scenes.

In Lu Yifei’s view, the very difficulty of consumer-grade AR glasses has always been the balance between power consumption and performance. INMO has always insisted on its own path that is to produce AR glasses that are affordable and useful. The official price of 2,999 yuan also shows the sincerity of the manufacturer.

Position as a tech fashion brand, explore an unlimited life

AR smart glasses are undoubtedly one of the necessary tools for people to lead to “the meta universe”. After communicating with INMO, I found that the company has maintained considerable “restraint” in thoughts and has its own unique understanding of the concept of “meta universe”, which is not only reflected in its products, but also in its brand image.

INMO’s newly upgraded brand Slogan: “YOU ARE WHAT YOU SEE”. Lu Yifei mentioned that people nowadays live in a “solid society”, where communication between people is scattered like isolated islands, the relationship estranged, and mutual understanding and trust lost. However, after thousands of years of materialistic survival mode, the Internet and the digital revolution have enabled us to return to “the spiritual society”. So, what kind of life do you want? What’s the shape of your life?

INMO’s brand concept is “A Life Unlimited”, advocating for a “liquid life”, not to set limitations on one’s own life and future.

During talks with INMO, I found that the concept of “unlimited” runs through the company’s brand proposition and brand image, and penetrates into every detail from product design to brand culture. The concept of “meta universe” is that people can create a “parallel world” without being restricted by the real world. Compared with the real world we are living in now which has been gradually “solidified”, a fluid, irregular, changeable parallel world is an oasis that creative young people yearn for. It is also the uncompromising and unshakeable choice of young people in the Z era in the face of the uncertainties of reality.

With continuous breakthroughs in core technologies including hardware and software, the consumer market in the AR industry goes into the emerging stage. The market lacks innovative AR glasses brands for mass consumers, especially for young consumer groups, and INMO’s goal is to become the leading brand of consumer-grade AR glasses. INMO has always focused on the concept of introducing consumer-oriented products, and with its team experience from many mobile phone manufacturers, it will allow consumer-grade AR glasses to tap into the mass market in a faster and more innovative manner.

It is reported that in July of this year, INMO Air launched crowdfunding on the foreign platform Indiegogo, and then launched sales on domestic mini-programs, agents and other channels. So far, the number of product orders has exceeded 10,000 units. At the end of this year, INMO Air will be mass-produced and delivered in batches, and will be launched on the domestic e-commerce platforms, becoming the first consumer-grade AR smart glasses available for domestic consumers.

“The gradual maturity of upstream modules in the AR industry chain and the heavy investment of leading companies in the XR industry chain have become the foundation of the upcoming explosion of the consumer AR glasses market. As a veteran of the AR industry, INMO has rich experience in building consumer-grade AR glasses from 0 to 1 and mass production. after conquering technical barriers in software and hardware systems, power consumption control, structural design, etc., it has created a unique all-in-one AR glasses which is to become the leader of consumer-grade AR glasses. Matrix Partner has been paying attention to the upstream and downstream of the XR industry chain for a long time. We hope to work with INMO to find more consumer-oriented innovation opportunities under the concept of “meta universe”. “said Zuo Lingye of Matrix Partners.

 

 

 

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