Thunderbird Innovation receives additional financing, MicroLED glasses are accelerating the launch

Tianyancha APP shows that on May 14, Thunderbird Innovation completed a new round of financing. This round of financing was jointly participated by Jiantou Investment, Puxin Capital, Jinyu Bogor, YOFC Fund and other institutions. At the same time, on May 18, the company's registered capital increased from RMB 151.269 million to RMB 171.6904 million.

Image source: Tianyancha APP

Thunderbird Innovation was founded in 2021 and incubated by TCL Electronics. The core team comes from Tencent, DJI, Meta, OPPO, iQiyi and other companies. At present, the company has formed X, Air, and V series consumer-grade AR glasses product lines. Among them, the X3 Pro uses binocular full-color Micro LED and nanophotolithography optical waveguide technology, while the Air 3s series is equipped with a Micro OLED screen.

In terms of ecological cooperation, Thunderbird Innovation X3 Pro has been connected to JD.com’s intelligent JoyGlance in April this year. In March this year, the company also cooperated with Amap to introduce local life services into the AR glasses system.

In terms of production capacity, the Thunderbird Optical Intelligent Manufacturing Factory will be put into production in Nanhu, Jiaxing in June 2025, with an expected annual output of 1.05 million sets of optical-mechanical modules; the Wuxi XR complete machine R&D and manufacturing headquarters will be established in 2024, and will be able to achieve an annual production of 1 million XR complete machines after reaching capacity in the future.

In terms of financing, Thunderbird Innovation has continued to receive capital increases in the past two years. In January this year, the company announced the completion of over 1 billion yuan in financing, led by China Mobile Chain Fund and CITIC Goldstone, with participation from China Unicom's Lianchuang Innovation Fund and other institutions. In November last year, the company also completed a round of large-scale financing in the field of AI+AR glasses, with the funds mainly used for technology research and development and ecological construction.

AR industry chain companies are favored by capital

As one of the representative AR terminal companies, Thunderbird Innovation’s continued financing and production capacity expansion also reflect the accelerated development trend of the AR industry driven by AI to a certain extent. According to the latest forecast from TrendForce, global AR glasses shipments will jump to 950,000 units in 2026, with an annual growth rate of 53%. As terminal products gradually move towards consumer-level applications, key links in the upstream of the industry chain such as display, optics and chips have also entered a stage of rapid development.

Micro LED microdisplay

In April this year, Savlus completed a 300 million yuan Series C financing. The funds were mainly used to accelerate the mass production and delivery of full-color MicroLED microdisplays for AR. At present, its 6-inch silicon-based production line has achieved mass production and is simultaneously advancing the construction of 12-inch production lines. In terms of performance, the company expects revenue in 2026 to be approximately 300 million yuan, mainly driven by the increased volume of AR micro-display products.

From the perspective of industry paths, TrendForce analysts pointed out that 4/6-inch is the current mainstream specification of Micro LED, 8-inch is the current commercialization point, and 12-inch is the ultimate solution. However, whether it is the GaN on Si or GaN on Sapphire path, its supply chain coordination and technology maturity still face major bottlenecks. With the help of capital, Savlus is expected to accelerate the pace of production line ramp-up and product iteration, further promoting the transition of AR micro-display from production capacity construction to large-scale delivery.

Also in April, Micro LED microdisplay company Yanshan Technology completed Series A financing. The financing funds will focus on iterating the 8-inch gallium nitride on silicon mass production line to break through the bottleneck of Micro LED mass production and strengthen the research and development capabilities of next-generation high-performance products.

In March, Coslight Yuanxin, a semiconductor company focusing on Micro LED microdisplay chips, completed its industrial and commercial changes and introduced shareholders such as Xianghe Capital, Zhongke Chuangxing, and Fangguang Capital to continue to strengthen the layout of three-color Micro LED chips and modules.

Micro OLED Micro Display

While the Micro LED field continues to develop, the Micro OLED track also remains highly popular.

In May this year, CoreView Semiconductor, the parent company of CoreView, completed a 150 million yuan B+ round of financing. The funds were used for research and development, production capacity construction and cutting-edge technology layout, focusing on silicon-based micro-display chips and modules, covering Micro OLED and Micro LED routes.

In April, Xinshijia completed the A1 round of financing of several hundred million yuan, and the funds were used for the construction of the K5 base production line and technology iteration. The project has a total investment of 1 billion yuan and covers flexible OLED and Micro OLED display modules, targeting high-end smart wearable and AR/VR application scenarios.

It is worth mentioning that in addition to financing, many industry chain companies are also simultaneously advancing the capitalization process, and the pace of listing has significantly accelerated. Among them, Shiya Technology completed its listing and financing in March and plans to raise 2.015 billion yuan for the expansion of its Micro OLED production line. It plans to increase its 12-inch production capacity to 10.8 million units.

On May 18, Yunyinggu Technology issued an announcement announcing that it will be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on May 27. The funds raised from the IPO will mainly be used to invest in the research and development of Micro OLED and Micro LED display driver backplane technology. Since its establishment, Yunying Valley has completed more than ten rounds of financing, with investors including Huawei Hubble, Xiaomi Group, Qualcomm, BOE, Visionox and other industry chain companies.

According to TrendForce’s analysis, although the technology penetration rate of Micro OLED in AR glasses will decline with the rise of AI-equipped message prompt AR glasses, the active construction of production lines by Chinese Micro OLED manufacturers will promote more affordable costs to support the market size. With the continued support of capital, the technology and commercialization processes of related companies are also expected to accelerate.

AR optical waveguide

In addition to the display link, AR optical waveguide track financing is also frequent.

On April 10, Kunyou Optoelectronics completed nearly 400 million yuan in Series C+ financing, bringing the total financing to nearly 1 billion yuan. The funds were used for WLO wafer-level optical technology research and development, production line expansion and global patent layout. In March, Zhige Technology completed a 100 million yuan financing. The company focuses on AR diffraction optical waveguides. The financing funds will be used to continue to promote AR optical waveguide technology and production capacity expansion.

Terminal Application

At the terminal application level, AI glasses companies are also continuing to receive financial support.

In May this year, Jingzhida strategically invested in Rokid. This investment will combine Rokid’s scene traction capabilities in end-side AI glasses terminals and Jingzhida’s technology accumulation in the field of Micro LED key process inspection to jointly promote the coordinated development of the AI ​​glasses ecosystem. It is worth noting that Rokid has recently received strategic investments from Fibocom, Awinic Electronics, Connect Optical, Highpower Technology and other companies to jointly promote the development of AI glasses business.

In addition, the smart sports glasses brand Light Particle Technology, which specializes in the research and development of AR smart glasses and motion algorithms, and related companies such as Tribute to the Unknown and VITURE have also completed multiple rounds of financing this year, covering consumer-grade AR, AI shooting glasses and XR terminals. Innovation in display terminals continues to accelerate.

Among them, on February 28, Salute to the Unknown announced the completion of Pre-A round financing of over 100 million yuan, with participation from Skyworth Group, Boyu Capital, Legend Venture Capital and GF Qianhe. Then in March, Lenovo further invested in the company, and the registered capital increased accordingly to 13.4397 million yuan.

Summary

At the terminal and ecological level, with the help of capital, Thunderbird Innovation has accelerated the advancement of AR glasses from hardware to scene applications through product line expansion, the commissioning of optical factories, and ecological cooperation with JD.com, AutoNavi, etc.; companies such as Rokid, Tribute to the Unknown, and Light Particle Technology have continued to receive support from industrial capital in the directions of AI terminals, consumer-grade AR, and sports glasses respectively.

According to TrendForce consulting analysis, domestic AR glasses manufacturers have a high preference for Micro LED display light machines. This also reflects to some extent its long-term demand for high brightness, low power consumption and outdoor viewing capabilities. With the continued promotion of capital, the technological iteration and industrial collaboration of related enterprises are expected to further accelerate, and the form of terminal products will also further develop.

From the perspective of upstream display and optics, Micro LED is currently focusing on silicon-based production lines and full-color breakthroughs. Companies such as Savlus, Yanshan Technology, and Coslight Yuanxin continue to bet on the evolution of 6-inch to 12-inch production lines; Micro OLED, driven by companies such as Xinshi Semiconductor, Xinshijia, Shiya Technology, and Yunyinggu, focuses on 12-inch production capacity expansion and cost optimization. At the same time, the optical waveguide link (Kunyou Optoelectronics, Zhige Technology) makes up for the key optical shortcomings in the AR display system. (Text: LEDinside Mia)

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