"Lightelligence" Raises Nearly RMB 100 Million in Pre-B Round to Expand Multi-Scenario Smart Sports Glasses Portfolio | Linear Portfolio

Smart sports eyewear brand Holoswim (光粒科技) recently announced the completion of a nearly RMB 100 million Pre-B funding round. The capital will be used primarily for team building, R&D, and global marketing and sales expansion.

After years of refining its technology and products, Holoswim has evolved from its early single-product smart swimming goggles to a multi-scenario smart sports eyewear portfolio covering swimming, running, cycling, and outdoor activities. Currently, overseas sales have rapidly climbed to nearly half of total revenue, and the company has begun to surpass international competitors in product breadth, performance metrics, cost efficiency, and algorithm accuracy.

Linear Capital was the sole angel-round investor in Holoswim and has continued to back the company in subsequent rounds.

Smart sports eyewear brand Holoswim (光粒科技) announced the completion of a nearly RMB 100 million Pre-B funding round, led by Hangzhou High-Tech Venture Capital. The proceeds will be used primarily for team building, R&D, and global marketing and sales expansion.

Founded in 2017, Holoswim focuses on AR smart glasses and sports science algorithms. Since 2023, the company has concentrated on the smart sports eyewear track, using holographic resin lightguide technology to display real-time workout data directly in the user's field of vision — solving the "invisible data" pain point during exercise.

Currently, Holoswim has expanded from its original single-product smart swimming goggles to a multi-scenario smart sports eyewear portfolio covering swimming, running, cycling, and outdoor activities. In the niche smart swim goggle segment, Holoswim holds a leading position in the domestic market and has begun competing with international brands globally.

Over the past year, Holoswim's core Holoswim product line has undergone multiple iterations, evolving from data visualization toward more comprehensive sports science monitoring.

The new Holoswim 2 Plus smart swim goggles add heart rate monitoring to the existing feature set. To solve the problem that heart rate signals cannot penetrate water, the team innovatively developed a detachable multi-function heart rate monitor called HandPlus B2 — a small accessory that clips onto a swim cap and transmits data to the goggles at close range, enabling real-time heart rate monitoring and feedback during swimming.

"The accuracy of this heart rate monitor is approaching medical-grade chest strap levels," said Zhuopeng Zhang. The monitor works not only for swimming but also for running, cycling, and trail sports, functioning as a versatile multi-sport accessory.

At the recent AWE exhibition, Holoswim unveiled the Holoswim 3 series. Targeting mid-to-high-speed swimming and open-water outdoor scenarios, the product optimizes its streamlined design around an ultra-thin, high-transparency holographic resin lightguide — reducing water resistance, withstanding dive entry impact, and adding GPS and compass functions to help users "swim in a straight line between two points" in open water, solving the pain points of disorientation and course control.

"We joke that the '3' in Holoswim 3 stands for triathlon," said Zhang. It supports outdoor swimming including triathlon events, covering everything from daily training to competitive performance improvement.

Earlier, in October 2025, Holoswim launched the SollaWave music swim goggles. Beyond music playback, the product delivers swimming data through voice announcements and supports offline playback of music and podcasts, catering to "companion-style" swimming needs. SollaWave became the top-selling product in its category on Tmall last winter.

On the distribution front, Holoswim has already entered outdoor gear retailers such as Decathlon and recently added professional eyewear stores including Wuliangcai and Gozem. "Whether it's outdoor sports chain stores, eyewear shops, or big-box retailers like Best Buy and Target overseas — we're going after all of them," said Zhang. The company is gradually covering terminal retail channels worldwide where smart swim goggles can be sold.

Overseas markets are currently Holoswim's expansion priority. According to Zhang, overseas sales have rapidly risen to nearly half of total revenue and could potentially reach around 70% in the future. In the smart swim goggle segment, no other domestic player is currently competing directly with Holoswim. Regarding the overseas competitive landscape, Zhang noted that Holoswim has begun surpassing international competitors in product breadth, performance metrics, cost efficiency, and algorithm accuracy.

For its overseas content strategy, Holoswim is building a dedicated international content team while collaborating with overseas distributors to localize product messaging according to regional user preferences. Some overseas agents even co-redesign product packaging with Holoswim based on local tastes.

For 2026, Holoswim has set global sales expansion as its goal. Zhang summarized this year's strategic priorities in three points: First, launch a more tiered product matrix in swimming, moving from a single SKU to multiple models across price segments; second, expand categories from swimming to more outdoor sports — outdoor smart glasses for running, mountaineering, trail sports, and hiking will launch in the second half of this year; third, further refine the vertical model for sports science, using on-device AI to enable more precise workout data analysis and more personalized training guidance.

"In sports scenarios, general-purpose large models can't access the body's own data. Through hardware as an entry point, we capture body data, then aim to make the on-device AI model more efficient and streamlined before connecting to cloud-based large models for smoother interaction," Zhang explained. The on-device model can make swim training plans richer and more personalized, and as model accuracy improves, stroke and rest detection will become more precise — eventually covering more scenarios from swimming to land-based sports.

"We're advancing all three initiatives simultaneously," Zhang said. From smart swim goggles to broader outdoor sports scenarios, Holoswim is steadily building out its larger smart sports eyewear vision along its planned path.

Source | 36Kr Author | Cairu Ren