Lynx says the tempo of manufacturing of its R1 blended actuality headset has been “an absolute mess”.
Should you’re unaware, Lynx-R1 is a French standalone headset first introduced in 2020 with an open periphery design. Had it shipped on time, in 2022, it might have been the primary client standalone headset with shade passthrough blended actuality. However after repeated delays it was crushed to market by Meta Quest Professional, and Lynx nonetheless hasn’t shipped to all backers whereas Quest 3 and Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional shipped in quantity within the meantime.
Lynx-R1 Value Will increase To $1300 Amid Pivot To Companies
Lynx-R1 worth growing to $1300 because the startup pivots again to companies. Particulars right here:
In a Kickstarter replace publish, CEO and founder Stan Larroque mentioned that the final yr has been “excruciating”. He claims his firm’s lack of ability to pay its producer, Compal, resulted in produced headsets not being delivered, and says this case resulted from supposed buyers not following by with their funding.
This is the total part of the publish, that includes surprising claims:
“Up to now, we delivered the primary backers with the primary batches on the finish of 2023 and we’re wanting ahead to ship 400 extra Lynx-R1 headsets between July and August.
The tempo of manufacturing has been an absolute mess for the R1, and 100% of the constraints we had have been associated to monetary points.
These 400 headsets have been a part of our PVT batch (500 items). They have been truly assembled between February and March, however our companion and assembler Compal retained these 400 headsets till we might settle a cost for some manpower. The state of affairs was fairly dangerous however lastly we’re capable of settle this and the pallets can be on their approach this week!
The final 12 months have been excruciating. And nothing associated to the headset itself.
We devoted a lot effort to lift cash it is ridiculous and a tragedy as a result of there may be nothing to point out for it in the present day from our final fundraising of Might 2022. A lot occurred I am unable to write all the pieces down but however listed here are two examples:
• We have been supposed to shut a 30M€ deal on the finish of April, time period sheet signed and all the pieces. And it did not occurred as a result of the European investor did not actually have the cash and lied to us. This was virtually a dying sentence, it is the worst factor that may occur to a startup.
• One other one is a French public fund mendacity to us of their will to decide to our firm. They took greater than 6 months to do a due diligence, we spent a whole bunch of hours on the case with them (they have been alleged to commit 15M€). They issued a LOI in July 2023. All that to comprehend they have been badmouthing about us behind our backs to different potential co-investors. A VC shared these emails with me and it depressed me a lot.That is the tip of the iceberg of what we needed to face elevating cash 1) in XR, 2) in {hardware}, 3) in Europe. These conditions, alongside the affect on the R1, are probably the most irritating experiences of my skilled life.
You recognize this case when you will have performed your homework however you get an F as a result of the instructor does not like your face or another random purpose that you don’t have any management over? That is it, for a superb yr.
Okay, now that the frustration is out, I can share additionally higher information. We’re working with a giant monetary US companion to proceed our work. It is too early to share extra, however the motivation remains to be there as a result of:
We have now a superb product, and an amazing roadmap. I imagine we’re nonetheless doing the precise issues.
The companions we discuss with are US-based and truly perceive XR and why it is necessary to have an organization similar to Lynx within the panorama
We nonetheless have an enormous demand even for the R1 (10k+ buy orders primarily for Defence, Industrial and Medical use-cases)
It is fascinating to be the one OEM in Europe to construct standalone headsets. We’re a really small firm, however we see rather a lot and we regularly know the place to look even earlier than the large ones (see for our instance our funding in Hypervision). I am nonetheless very optimistic about Lynx and what’s forward for us. The XR ecosystem is consolidating, so the large ones are shopping for (or killing, belief me they tried) the small ones, and we’re nonetheless standing on this wave.”
Even when Larroque’s new timeline is correct, Lynx nonetheless has an extended solution to go to fulfill its clients. By the top of August, solely 500 of over 1000 Kickstarter backers and over 10,000 whole orders ought to be glad.
The story of Lynx is a bitter reminder that for startups with out the war-chest of huge firms, mass producing XR headsets at scale is extremely arduous, and fraught with unpredictable points alongside the trail from spectacular prototypes to transport to clients.
