Our Investment in Looking Glass

We are pleased to announce that Foundry Venture Capital 2016, L.P. has completed its initial investment in Looking Glass as part of a $10 million financing. Based in Brooklyn, NY, Looking Glass has created the world’s first personal 3D volumetric display.

While the idea of a 3D volumetric display was envisioned over 100 years ago and Louis Lumière invented stereoscopic (3D) films in 1935, the physical instantiation of such a product has been elusive. Extensive research at MIT in the early 1990s, which included John Underkoffler (now CEO of Oblong) made progress but stalled in the mid-1990s.

In 2013, Shawn Frayne and Alex Hornstein became obsessed with the idea of a 3D volumetric display and started Looking Glass. In 2015, they came out with a product called L3D Cubes which was an early precursor to their current product, Volume.

We were introduced to Shawn by Jeff Clavier at SoftTech VC. Jeff insisted that Brad sit down with Shawn and, after a 30-minute meeting at Jeff’s office in San Francisco, Brad called John Underkoffler and said, “John, I finally saw what you were trying to create with your holographic camera.”

Looking Glass adds another dimension to a long list of 3D related product companies we’ve invested in over the years, including MakerBot, Glowforge, Formlabs, and Occipital. We are excited to welcome Shawn, Alex, and their team to the gang. And, thanks, Jeff!