Even Realities Raises $150M from Meituan and Tencent, Reaching a $1B Valuation for Smart Glasses Technology

Last month, Meta and Snap unveiled new smart glasses, representing a pivotal advancement in the industry’s aim to merge cameras and AI assistants into everyday life. As this rapidly developing sector evolves, new players like Even Realities are beginning to challenge the established leaders.

Established three years ago in Shenzhen, the startup Even Realities has successfully secured $150 million in a pre-Series B funding round, spearheaded by Meituan and backed by existing investor Tencent, achieving a valuation of $1 billion. Founder and CEO Will Wang shared with TechCrunch that, unlike rivals focusing on camera-centric devices for content creation and AI, their primary goal is to create display-first glasses that present information directly in the user’s view while prioritizing privacy.

Even’s early investors include notable Chinese companies like Hillhouse, Sequoia China, and Northern Light Venture Capital.

Founded in 2023 by former Apple engineers, CEO Wang was instrumental in the development of the Apple Watch and iPhone, while other co-founders contribute expertise from the tech and luxury eyewear industries, including Lindberg. The startup swiftly launched its debut product, the G1, in 2024, which Wang claims was the lightest waveguide smart glasses available at that time.

Wang revealed that Even exceeded its goal of selling 10,000 units, becoming the first in its category to achieve this landmark. The company secured funding more quickly than expected, expanding its workforce from 30-40 employees in 2024 to between 300 and 400 today.

The latest flagship model, the G2, released in November, does not include a camera. Instead, it features a heads-up display within the frames that provides information directly to the user, operated through the Even R1 companion ring, allowing for tapping and swiping gestures.

The decision to omit a camera highlights Even’s dedication to privacy, a crucial aspect of their strategy. Wang emphasized that smart glasses are among the most personal computing devices a user can wear. Given their regular use, ensuring the comfort of users and those around them is vital, making privacy a major concern in both hardware and software. Functions like voice translation convert audio to text without recording, while user data is encrypted and complies with Europe’s stringent privacy regulations, Wang elaborated.

Heavy users of Even rely on Conversate, a feature that translates conversations in real-time, clarifying terminology and providing immediate follow-ups while syncing summaries with their smartphones.

Nevertheless, Even has also focused on optics (display quality and overall visual performance), which Wang believes differentiates smart glasses from other consumer devices.

“Unlike phones or watches that typically use standard OLED or LCD screens, smart glasses are the first category to utilize optical displays. This necessitates a fundamentally different technological approach, requiring seamless integration of the microchip, optics, and waveguide. Our largest investments have been directed towards this area,” Wang explained.

The company has developed proprietary optical technology known as Even HAO, or Holistic Adaptive Optics, which merges the microchip, waveguide, and prescription support from the outset, rather than assembling separately designed components.

Over half of Even’s users are located in the U.S., its fastest-growing market, which also hosts its largest developer community. Although Even operates production facilities in multiple locations in China, it currently does not sell there, opting instead to concentrate on the U.S., Japan, South Korea, the Middle East, and Europe. “The demand in China is substantial, so we want to be fully prepared,” Wang noted.

Even positions itself within the premium segment of the market while achieving significant sales volume, establishing itself as a key player in this space, according to Wang. “Our typical customers are male professionals aged 30 to 50, with a survey indicating that roughly one-third of our users are business executives,” he pointed out. The frames are priced at $599 before taxes, and with the addition of prescription lenses or the accompanying ring, the average total cost can approach $1,000.