EssilorLuxottica Acquires French XR Startup Lynx

Global eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica has officially acquired French XR (Extended Reality) hardware startup Lynx. The confirmation came via an email to supporters from Lynx founder and CEO Stan Larroque.

EssilorLuxottica will gain control of Lynx's company name, domain names, databases, source code, 3D design files, and manufacturing processes, among other intellectual property. A majority of Lynx's employees are expected to join the new owner. Larroque himself will not be joining EssilorLuxottica, and has accepted a significant management role at drone manufacturer Parrot.

The financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed. The purchase comes at a critical time for Lynx, as its parent company, SL Process, was placed into judicial liquidation proceedings earlier this year by a French court after restructuring efforts failed. Assets and intellectual property are typically sold in such cases to settle debts.

The primary question surrounding the acquisition is the fate of Lynx's yet-to-be-officially-launched mixed reality headset, the Lynx-R2, which was unveiled earlier this year. Neither Lynx nor EssilorLuxottica have commented on the product's future. Given EssilorLuxottica's existing collaboration with Meta on Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses, and the Lynx-R2's positioning as a competitor to Meta's Quest devices, its future market entry is uncertain.