EssilorLuxottica, the eyewear conglomerate behind Ray-Ban and Oakley, has acquired French XR startup Lynx after the company entered judicial liquidation proceedings in March.

Lynx founder Stan Larroque confirmed the deal in an email to backers, saying all IP, assets and most of the team are transitioning to the new owner. Larroque himself is not joining EssilorLuxottica – he is moving to Paris-based drone company Parrot for a leadership role.

The acquisition puts the future of Lynx’s unreleased Lynx-R2 headset in question. Announced earlier this year, the standalone mixed reality headset was positioned as a potential Quest competitor. Given EssilorLuxottica’s close partnership with Meta on Ray-Ban and Oakley smart glasses, the R2 may never ship under its new owner.

Financial terms were not disclosed. A commercial judge approved the sale after EssilorLuxottica outbid two competitors.

The acquisition is a strategic R&D play centered on Lynx’s SLAM tracking, positional tracking and video see-through software. Those capabilities could prove valuable as EssilorLuxottica deepens its smart glasses investment alongside Meta.

The news comes as EssilorLuxottica continues expanding beyond traditional eyewear, recently announcing a joint development agreement with Applied Materials and investing in display technologies for AR glasses and smart eyewear.

Source: Road to VR