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Meta view acquires Meta IP, former Qualcomm Exec to chart “new course” as CEO

Meta View is a newly formed startup that’s looking to take up where Meta Company left off, the creators behind the Meta 2 AR headset. Meta View announced the acquisition of Meta Company assets, and are bringing Jay Wright, former Qualcomm executive and Vuforia President, to the position of CEO.

Wright is tasked with charting the wholly new and unaffiliated company “on a new course,” although it’s not clear at this time exactly what direction the company will go, be it a strictly enterprise route, or to bring more accessible hardware to consumers. Meta View is headquartered in its San Mateo office, but will also maintain offices in San Diego and Tel-Aviv.

Meta Company’s last product was the Meta 2, a tethered AR headset that launched in 2017 for $950.

Meta View says in a press statement that it will continue to support current owners of Meta 2 devices, but will not offer the Meta 2 for sale.

Meta Company fell into financial ruin late last year after furloughing a majority of its talent due to a crackdown on China-based funding. The company then declared insolvency in January, citing its inability to settle litigation in a patent infringement case. At the time, former CEO and founder Meron Gribetz said he was “somewhat encouraged” by the sale of the company’s IP, and that he felt “like it’s a good home for the Meta assets, and that it could provide a future for them.”

Despite the industry stumbling block, Meta View CEO Jay Wright thinks the potential for AR is still admittedly “intoxicating.”

It has fostered a highly competitive and dynamic landscape and I’ve had a front row seat for more than a decade,” Wright says. “This experience and insight has equipped me to identify an opportunity for a different approach, and I couldn’t be more excited to build a new company, a new product, and a world-class team to drive it forward.”

At Qualcomm, Wright led the Vuforia team in the creation of its AR SDK, eventually garnering more than 450,000 AR developers and 50,000 applications in the App Store and Google Play.

Meta View is backed by Olive Tree Ventures and BNSG Captial, and acquired the intellectual property assets of Meta Company from its lender.

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