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  • 11 months ago
Categories: ArticlesfailedStartup

AR headset company Meta shutting down after assets are sold

Augmented reality technology enables us to see things in virtual sphere, and lot of startups are trying to innovate in the space. Meta, maker of the Meta augmented reality headset, was incubated at Y Combinator and became the first to ship a set of “end-to-end” AR glasses. The AR startup that was has been sold to an unknown company after a months-long struggle to keep its doors open.

The startup had raised a lot of money and high hopes in the process, crashed into insolvency recently as it ran out of money to fund the costly business of building hardware as well as options to raise more.

According to both the legal filing and Meta CEO Meron Gribetz, the bank holding Meta’s debt foreclosed the company’s loan and sold all its assets. Gribetz isn’t revealing the buyer’s name, nor what it plans to do with its purchase. According to him, Meta had “very little” input in the asset sale, which took place as the company was attempting to raise more money. And he describes the move as unexpected — the buyer had apparently expressed interest in Meta’s assets, and the bank agreed to sell them.

Meron Gribetz, Meta’s founder and CEO, told TechCrunch in an interview earlier today that the company’s assets have been acquired by a mystery buyer. The buyer’s name and even its industry are not being disclosed, said Gribetz, except he did hint that it is a “known name” that might be revealed soon.

Gribetz told TechCrunch he believes that one day every company will be an AR company, but for now, we are far from that. Headsets and glasses — a primary component of many services — are still clunky, we haven’t seen the “killer app” yet that will bring a mass market running to buy products and it’s not even clear that there may ever be. If you think of how much of the AR content you get already comes by way of your smartphone, then it may turn out just to be an additional feature, not a major step change after all.

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