Best Augmented Reality Companies in Netherlands
The 52 best Augmented Reality companies in Netherlands in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: Layar.
Tracking the best Augmented Reality companies in Netherlands by disclosed equity funding puts 52 startups on the board, with a combined $28M raised and Layar sitting well ahead of the pack at $19M. That's a concentrated field. Expivi at $4M and AugmedIT at $3M round out the meaningful capital tier, while Brilliance holds $2M and most of the remaining roster is still pre-institutional. No unicorns yet, but the global runway is real: AR is forecast to climb from roughly $14.7B to $85.5B by 2025 at a 38.1% CAGR, driven partly by retail and e-commerce demand that accelerated hard through COVID-19. As 2015 research showed, the foundational display and tracking problems AR needed to solve were already well-mapped, which makes today's commercial buildout feel less like speculation and more like execution.
So where's the Dutch scene headed? Coverage is currently flat, but the hot themes are wearable displays, smartwatches and new gadget cycles, which means hardware momentum could pull software players along for the ride. Investors backing this cohort, including Oost NL, Cottonwood Technology Fund and the EIC Fund, are patient institutional types rather than quick flippers. You should also note that privacy concerns around AR data collection are a structural headwind any serious player here needs to address. And globally, consolidation is already moving: the Spotkwik acquisition by Omnia earlier this year signals that AR M&A appetite is very much alive. I'd watch the Netherlands cohort closely this cycle.
- Doug Halsall
Ranked: Best Augmented Reality companies in Netherlands
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Stage | Founder | Founded | Tech stack | Patents & IP focus | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Layar Augmented Reality on interactive print | $19M | 188 mo ago | Acquired | — | 2009 | — | 33 patents AR content placement and visualization, enabling image and barcode augmentation in real‑world scenes | — |
| 2 | Expivi Platform to visualize products in augmented reality | $4M | 57 mo ago | Seed | Jur Rademakers Co Founder | 2009 | WordPressMySQLPHP+34 | — | — |
| 3 | AugmedIT Developer of hologram creation platform for doctors | $3M | 44 mo ago | Seed | Claartje Ypma Founder & CEO | 2018 | — | 7 patents Head‑mounted optical tracking for AR holographic surgical navigation and tool localization | — |
| 4 | Brilliance Light engines for projection applciations 24Innovation top 45%Funding top 45%Moat top 45%Patents top 48% All 8 signals ▾Innovationtop 45% Fundingtop 45% Moattop 45% Patentstop 48% Talentbottom 49% Techbottom 42% Globalbottom 36% Marketbottom 25% Innovation: 5 patents (top 81% of patent-holders) · 5 filings since 2022 vs 0 in 2017-21 Funding: Raised $2.2M across 2 rounds · 2 rounds over 3 yrs (0.7/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 24/100 | $2M | 3 mo ago | Series A | Tim Tiek CEO | 2022 | WordPressMySQLPHP+16 | 5 patents Advanced photonic integrated circuits with multi-level waveguides and speckle‑reduction NA control | 2 job openings |
| 5 | BioScope Cloud-based platform offering learning solutions for Anatomy | $319K | 42 mo ago | Seed | Luke Liplijn Founder | 2022 | — | — | — |
| 6 | Smart2IT Platform for building mobile virtual reality apps, virtual tours | — | 85 mo ago | Seed | Sander Martinec Founder | 2014 | — | — | — |
| 7 | Bright River Visual product content optimization and production solutions for e-tailers | — | 89 mo ago | Funding Raised | Jeroen Gerretsen Co-Founder / Client Service Director | 2006 | WordPressPleskApple iCloud Mail+37 | — | — |
| 8 | Roger Bacon Eyewear 3D printed eyewear | — | 121 mo ago | Seed | Pieter Jonckheer Co-Founder | 2014 | — | — | — |
Top 9 Augmented Reality companies in Netherlands
#1
Series A · Enschede, Overijssel · founded 2022$2.2Mraised▾
Light engines for projection applciations . It delivers light engine components for projection applications such as augmented reality. It enables real-time monitoring and remote control of machinery through its AI cloud server.
- Apr 2026Series A$6.9M
- Dec 2023Seed$2.2M
#2
Acquired · Amsterdam, North Holland · founded 2009 · 22 employees$18.7Mraised▾
Layar designs and develops mobile phone application. It offers a mobile augmented browser that provides information on top of the camera display view in various categories, including eating and drinking, entertainment and leisure, games, government, health care, local search and directory services, real estate, retail, schools and universities, social networks and communities, tourism, transportation and weather. On September 1, 2010, the World Economic Forum announced the company as a Technology Pioneer for 2011. Was acquired by Blippar, an Ad Tech company in June 2014.
- Nov 2010Series B$14M
- Feb 2010Series A$3.4M
- Oct 2009Seed$1.3M
#3
Seed · Naarden, North Holland · founded 2018 · 10 employees$2.7Mraised▾
Developer of hologram creation platform for doctors. It lets surgeons share these holograms with patients to discuss their medical condition or visually educate them and train medical staff or improve pre-planning for surgery.
- Nov 2022Seed$2.7M
- 2022Grant (prize money)$1.9M
#4
Seed · Eindhoven, North Brabant · founded 2009 · 40 employees$3.7Mraised▾
Expivi provides a platform for e-commerce retailers to visualize products in augmented reality. It is an online 3D product configurator that allows retailers to show their customers the augmented version of their products and let them choose from the options & order it on the e-commerce platform. Supports integration with ERP software.
- Oct 2021Seed$3.7M
#5
Seed · Amsterdam, North Holland · founded 2022$319Kraised▾
Cloud-based platform offering learning solutions for Anatomy. It creates 3D anatomy in augmented reality and virtual reality to help students and professionals to investigate the details of human anatomy. Apps are available for android and iOS users.
- Dec 2022Seed$319K
#6
Seed · Hengelo, Overijssel · founded 2014—raised▾
Smart2IT provides a platform for building mobile virtual reality apps, virtual tours. Smart2VR is a platform for building VR apps with 360º photos, videos or videos for Android and iOS. Property Configurator is a software application for 3D BIM models which can be visualized in VR. Plan Designer is a software application for 3D visualization based on floor plans which can be configured and can be viewed in VR.
- Jun 2019Seed—
#7
Funding Raised · Haarlem, North Holland · founded 2006 · 226 employees—raised▾
Bright River provides visual product content optimization and production solutions for e-tailers. The company also offers solutions for image editing, 3D product visualization, product video editing, and more. Its visual content optimization tool collects & analyses product samples, competitors data, etc. using computer vision and eye track prediction technology and recommends & validate reports based on the knowledge database.
- Feb 2019Conventional Debt—
#8
Seed · Amsterdam, North Holland · founded 2014—raised▾
Roger Bacon focuses on designing and manufacturing person specific eyewear using 3D scanning and 3D printing technology. Customer have the option to use the mobile app to choose from an array of different frame designs and customize the glasses accordingly to their requirements.
- 2016Seed—
#9
Deadpooled · Amsterdam, North Holland · founded 2014 · 7 employees—raised▾
LiateR is a customer engagement solution that enables shoppers to virtually try-on clothes and accessories. It uses a combination of gesture detection and augmented reality technologies. Shoppers can digitally try-on and buy clothing at the same time. They can even share their fitting with their friends for a second opinion.
- Jan 2015Seed—
- 2014Seed—
Funding & investor landscape
Notable founders
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Augmented Reality coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
How research on AR / VR / Metaverse is moving in the Netherlands
A read on the academic research around AR / VR / Metaverse — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 571 Netherlands-affiliated papers.
- Delft University of Technology82
- University of Twente51
- University of Amsterdam48
- Maastricht University46
- Tilburg University43
- Virtual reality7→37
- Human–computer interaction3→22
- Augmented reality2→13
- Visualization1→5
- Virtual reality11→149
- Human–computer interaction6→55
- Augmented reality4→41
- Task (project management)1→10
- Haptic technology2→10
- Virtual reality8→81
- Human–computer interaction5→32
- Augmented reality4→19
- Mixed reality1→7
- Task (project management)1→6
Where ar vr is researched across Netherlands
Location clusters by institution affiliation — each city's volume, stance tone, and a quick read on its hot topic, what's advancing, the opening opportunity, and the main concern.
Common questions
Rohit lives in the feed. He covers what's moving right now — the funding rounds, launches and shifts breaking across the trade press — and ties them back to where the sector is heading.