Antti Sunnari at Dispelix is creating a potent mix of patented and proprietary devices and experiences in augmented reality

Six years ago Antti Sunnari was still a research scientist. Today his spin-out, Dispelix, has raised €33m to solve one of the main problems in augmented reality: the diffusion of light in a rainbow effect. It began with Sunnari’s research into diffractive optics. ‘Because we were scientists, it was cool we could eliminate the rainbow effect. We filed a patent but had no business case.’ Others started to see the potential for moving smart glasses forward. After a trip to Silicon Valley, Sunnari realised he couldn’t produce them himself. Instead, he set out to become a component maker for smart glasses and reality headsets with two business models: off the shelf and custom design. He co-founded his company, Dispelix, as a spin-out from VTT, the Finnish research institute, in 2015. It now has 60 employees, two-thirds of who are PhDs, its revenues are heading towards €10m and it has opened an office in Silicon Valley. Further rapid growth is expected with an office in China planned. Dispelix builds the prototypes and then recruits partners to manufacture in volume. ‘The decision to focus on research, software and manufacturing as our three competencies is really paying off.’ He is pursuing an IP policy to secure his position when AR finally arrives. ‘It has been about to happen next year for several years,’ he told an event for high-growth tech ventures organised by the EPO and LESI. ‘It now genuinely looks as if the market will be as competitive as mobile phones within two years.’ So far, Dispelix has 20 patents granted for its waveguard display that use nano structures to split the light, before bouncing back into larger images. ‘We have filed everything because when the market starts in a couple of years, the fighting will be intense.’ ‘We keep our simulation software as a trade secret, as you cannot see how we have used it to optimise our waveguards. We have a quarterly meeting with everyone to review the state of our secrecy and only give access to those who need to know. I’m the chief executive, for instance, but can’t see our software.’ Ultimately, Dispelix’s revenues are expected to reach hundreds of millions a year. Sunnari is currently expanding his team from 60 to 100. Year by year, those numbers are expected to keep doubling. ‘Our goal is to hire the best. We can’t compete on salaries, but, compared to the major players, it is easier for us to open offices and build teams. We are really thorough in setting goals, so engineers and technicians can see they are pushing forward the research they have already started.’ ‘They like the opportunity to work with the best and we have adopted Nokia’s policy for rewarding employees at each step of their invention. Currently, our methods for designing and optimising nanostructures are 20,000 faster than industry standards. That’s all about the talent we can attract.’ ▪ Antti Sunnari was speaking at the High-growth Technology Business Forum, the first in a series of regular events organized by the European Patent Office and the Licensing Executives Society International. Or follow on Linked In.