Leia, a provider of glasses-free 3D display technology, may raise capital later this year or in early 2027 as it doubles down on the mobile phone market, said CEO Fabio Esposito.

The Menlo Park, California-based company would seek between USD 50m and USD 100m depending on funding requirements at that time, Esposito said. It may hire an advisor for that process, he added.

Proceeds would support product development, expand partnerships, and drive growth in smartphones, with the first original equipment manufacturer (OEM) devices expected to reach the market in early 2028, the CEO noted.

Leia has raised more than USD 325m in debt and equity. Investors include Sputnik ATX and Continental AG.

Esposito declined to comment on company revenue but said Leia is profitable and projecting double-digit annual growth. The business has more than 200 employees and additional offices in Ukraine, the Netherlands, and China.

Leia’s spatial artificial intelligence (AI) platform, Immersity, consists of hardware and software that enable glasses-free 3D and immersive visual experiences on devices such as laptops and automotive displays.

The company mainly serves OEMs, primarily in device manufacturers, technology firms (including big tech), and automotive companies. It has more than 10 customers, Esposito said, including Samsung, Acer, and Barco. Its customers are based primarily in the US and Asia.

In 2023, Leia acquired Netherlands-based peer Dimenco and purchased Royal Philips’ 3D patent portfolio. The company continues to evaluate partnerships and acquisitions of complementary solutions that could expand Leia’s functionality and enable additional use cases across verticals such as medical, gaming, and education, Esposito said.

The CEO said Leia considers targets globally and prefers larger deals “that could accelerate our product development by years.” The company prefers to fund transactions through cash, with the potential for an earnout component, he added.

CTO David Fattal co-founded Leia in 2014 alongside, President Pierre-Emmanuel Evreux, and Zhen Peng as a spin-off from Hewlett-Packard Labs. Esposito was appointed CEO in January 2024 after serving as CEO of Luxexcel, which was acquired by Meta in 2022, and Solidscape, which was acquired by Stratasys in 2011.

Esposito said Leia will likely sell to a strategic buyer, though he did not rule out private equity. Despite early investor entry in 2014, the company is unlikely to explore exit options within the next 24 months as it seeks to capitalize on growth in the mobile phone market, he added.

Esposito said Leia is benefiting from two structural tailwinds: the shift from “consuming to experiencing” content and the evolution of generative AI toward artificial general intelligence (AGI), a form of AI that can understand, learn, and apply knowledge across many different tasks at a human-like level, rather than being designed for one specific job.

According to Esposito, Leia has the largest patent portfolio in the space at more than 2,000. He cited Luma AI, Depthify.ai, Make3D, Real Life 3D, Spline, and Meshy as adjacent players.

In November, Luma AI raised a USD 900m Series C led by Saudi sovereign-backed AI firm HUMAIN at a valuation of approximately USD 4bn.

Esposito said the funding underscores continued investor interest in spatial computing and generative 3D technologies.