Meta (company)

Meta
Private
Founder Meron Gribetz, CEO
Key people
 John Werner
Products Augmented Reality Products
Website metavision.com

Meta is a Silicon Valley company known for making augmented reality products. Their products include the Meta 1 Developer Kit and the Meta 2 Development Kit. They combine real world technology with holographic images, and unlike the Oculus Rift, which is completely virtual, Meta is still transparent and the real world can still be seen.[1][2] It was founded by Meron Gribetz. Gribetz thought of starting Meta while studying neuroscience and computer science at Columbia University under tutelage of Steven Feiner.[3][4] CNBC identifies its main competitors as Vuzix and Recon Instruments rather than Google Glass. Their initial demographic will be business use, such as product engineers and architects.[5]

History

Meta was founded by Meron Gribetz. Gribetz thought of starting Meta while studying neuroscience and computer science at Columbia University under tutelage of Steven Feiner.[6][7]

On May 17, 2013, Meta launched a crowdfunded Kickstarter campaign which successfully resulted in 501 backers pledging $194,444 out of a $100,000 goal.[8] The summer of 2013 provided Meta the honored acceptance to Y Combinator's seed accelerator program.[9][10] Around this time, Meta brought Steve Mann on as Chief Scientist providing the company with advice and guidance.[11]

In the Fall of 2013, Feiner joined as Lead Advisor.[12] Meta subsequently opted to rent a large house to serve as its headquarters. The new address was shared with the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation.[13][14]

In 2014, Gribetz was awarded the "30 Under 30 award" in the technology category by Forbes.[15][16] In 2014, Meta won best heads-up display award for the Meta Pro at the Consumer Electronics Show.[17][18] The Meta Pro was deemed a prototype and never publicly released.

In September 2014, Meta presented the Meta 1 Developer Kit with a live medical demo at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco.[19] In September 2014, Meta began to ship the final version of its Meta 1 Developer Kit.[20][21]

In January 2015, Meta announced a $23 million Series A round led by Horizons Ventures, Tim Draper, BOE Optoelectronics and Garry Tan and Alexis Ohanian of Y Combinator. Danhua Capital, Commodore Partners and Vegas Tech Fund also participated.[22][23][24] In March 2015, Meta collaborated with Wix.com, Shapeways, and UploadVR in the first AR hackathon in Silicon Valley.[25]

On February 17, 2016, Meta unveiled their second-generation product at TED.[26][27][28][29] On March 2, 2016, Meta opened pre-orders for their second-generation headset, the Meta 2 Development Kit.[30][31][32]

On June 13, 2016, Meta announced they had raised another $50M in venture funding from Lenovo, Tencent, Banyan Capital, Comcast Ventures, and GQY. [33]

Products

References

  1. ↑ http://blog.laptopmag.com/meta-pro-glasses-hands-on
  2. ↑ Angley, Natalie (2013-10-31). "Glasses to make you a real-life Tony Stark". CNN. Retrieved 2014-11-14.
  3. ↑ Das, Sumi (2013-10-30). "Meta's spaceglasses promise mobile augmented reality". CNET. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  4. ↑ Farber, Dan (2013-09-09). "Meta's Meron Gribetz and the rise of the natural machine". CNET. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  5. ↑ Berniker, Mark (2014-04-14). "Meta attracts big investors for new augmented reality glasses". CNBC. Retrieved 2014-11-14.
  6. ↑ Das, Sumi (2013-10-30). "Meta's spaceglasses promise mobile augmented reality". CNET. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  7. ↑ Farber, Dan (2013-09-09). "Meta's Meron Gribetz and the rise of the natural machine". CNET. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  8. ↑ "Kickstarter: The Most Advanced Augmented Reality Glasses". Kickstarter. 2013-05-17. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  9. ↑ Crook, Jordan (2013-08-20). "Y Combinator Summer 2013 Demo Day, Batch 2: Meet Meta, Lob, Amulyte, Weilos And More". TECHCRUNCH. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  10. ↑ Farber, Dan (2013-05-17). "Meta glasses bring 3D and your hands into the picture". CNET. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  11. ↑ Biggs, John (2013-05-21). "Meta, The World's First Entry-Level AR Glasses, Hires The Father Of Wearable Computing As Chief Scientist". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  12. ↑ Cava, Marco (2013-07-30). "Change Agents: Seeing world through Meta's 3-D glasses". USATODAY. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
  13. ↑ Taylor, Colleen (2014-03-19). "TC Cribs: Meta, The Sprawling Rural Ranch Where Augmented Reality Magic Is Made". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  14. ↑ Levy, Karyne (2014-06-08). "Take A Tour Of Meta, The Company That Wants The World To Be Like An 'Iron Man' Movie". Business Insider. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  15. ↑ "2014 30 Under 30: Technology". Forbes. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  16. ↑ Guglielmo, Connie (2014-01-06). "30 Under 30: Meet Technology's Smartest, Youngest And Most Daring Innovators". Forbes. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  17. ↑ "Best of CES 2014". Tom's Guide. 2014-06-09. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  18. ↑ Lunden, Ingrid (2014-01-12). "The Best of CES 2014". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  19. ↑ "Treating Virtual Patients with Meta and SimX". TechCrunch. 2014-09-09. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  20. ↑ Donovan, Jay (2014-09-18). "Meta 1 Augmented Reality Glasses Are Dragging Us Into A VR Future". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  21. ↑ Levy, Karyne (2014-09-18). "The World Is One Step Closer To Being Like An 'Iron Man' Movie". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  22. ↑ Chapman, Lizette (2015-01-28). "Augmented-Reality Headset Maker Meta Secures $23 Million". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  23. ↑ CrunchBase https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/meta-view#/entity. Retrieved 2016-02-29. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  24. ↑ Brewster, Signe (2015-01-28). "Meta raises $23M Series A to refine its augmented reality glasses". Gigaom. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  25. ↑ Eleanor (2015-03-02). "The next frontier: Meta augmented reality and 3D printing". Shapeways. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  26. ↑ "Meta Unveils Incredible Augmented Reality Headset at TED". UploadVR. 2016-02-17. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  27. ↑ Wakefield, Jane (2016-02-17). "TED 2016: Meta augmented reality headset demoed at TED". BBC. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  28. ↑ Helft, Miguel (2016-02-17). "New Augmented Reality Startup Meta Dazzles TED Crowd". Forbes. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  29. ↑ Rosenbaum, Steven (2016-02-17). "Meron Gribetz Wants To Build The IOS Of The Mind". Forbes. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  30. ↑ Matney, Lucas (2016-03-02). "Hands-on with the $949 mind-bending Meta 2 augmented reality headset". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  31. ↑ Lang, Ben (2016-03-02). "Hands-on: Meta 2 Could Do for Augmented Reality What Rift DK1 Did for Virtual Reality". Road to VR. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  32. ↑ Helft, Miguel (2016-03-02). "Startup Meta Unveils $949 Augmented Reality Headset To Rival HoloLens". Forbes. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  33. ↑ "AR startup Meta raises $50M at around $300M valuation, eyes up China".
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