Raphael Thys
Credit: Luxexcel
Meta, the parent company of American tech giant Facebook, has acquired the Belgian-Dutch company Luxexcel, according to information from Belgian newspaper De Tijd and later confirmed by Meta on Wednesday.
Luxexcel specialises in 3D printing technology which is used for complex glasses lenses. “We are delighted that the Luxexcel team has joined Meta. This extends the partnership between the two companies,” Meta stated.
Increasingly, the company is incorporating digital technology into the lenses themselves, paving the way for augmented reality (AR) technology in the optics sector.
Luxexcel and Meta are rumoured to have previously collaborated on the development of specialist lenses used in Meta’s Project Aria, a project which seeks to create ordinary glasses with integrated AR technology.
According to De Tijd, Meta paid a high price for the company, which is based in Turnhout, near Antwerp.
This is good news for the Flemish taxpayer, which invested heavily into Luxexcel through the Participatiemaatschappij Vlaanderen (PMV), an independent organisation owned by the Flemish government that supports economic investment initiatives in Flemish-speaking regions.