Company Will Use New Capital to Accelerate Product Development and Increase Global Adoption of AI-Powered, 360-Degree Video Conferencing Solutions for Hybrid Work
Owl Labs, the first company to build AI-powered, 360-degree video conferencing solutions, announced a $25 million Series C investment and a strategic partnership with HP, bringing the company’s total funding to over $47 million. The funding round was led by HP Tech Ventures, the venture capital arm of HP Inc., and Angelo Del Priore, Partner at HP Tech Ventures, has joined Owl Labs’ board of directors. Owl Labs’ strategic partner in Japan, Sourcenext, also participated in this round, along with existing investors Matrix Partners, Spark Capital, and Playground Global.
Owl Labs will use the new funding to support product development and increase global adoption of the company’s products, including the Meeting Owl® product line, the first AI-powered, 360-degree camera, microphone and speaker that automatically zooms in on whoever’s speaking; Whiteboard OwlTM, a dedicated camera that adds any in-room whiteboard to video conferences; and Meeting HQTM, an in-room computer and control center for video meetings. The company recently launched the latest device in its flagship product line, the Meeting Owl 3. More than 130,000 organizations globally, including 84 Fortune 100 companies, use Owl Labs products to ensure a level playing field between in-person and remote participants in hybrid meetings.
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HP will collaborate with Owl Labs to continue its accelerated growth, invest in its hardware and software offerings, expand its global footprint and deepen go-to-market partnerships starting with a commercial agreement between Owl Labs and HP France, where HP will launch Owl Labs’ products with their local sales teams. HP will provide sales coverage and outreach with enterprise companies, and further deepen the company’s relationships with small businesses and educational institutions through Owl Labs products. Owl Labs has been expanding globally since 2020 with significant sales and adoption in key European markets, with France being a high-potential growth market.
In a world where 98% of meetings have at least one remote participant but only 8% of the 89 million meeting rooms in the world are wired for video conferencing, Owl Labs devices make it possible for workers to communicate and collaborate no matter where they are. This is more necessary than ever, as an Owl Labs study found that more than 3/4 of employees (78%) want to have a hybrid or remote working style, yet only 36% said their employers have upgraded their video technology to allow for more hybrid collaboration.
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“Owl Labs was founded in 2014, based on emerging trends in remote collaboration – when the pandemic began six years later, the instant, worldwide adoption of distributed work kickstarted a paradigm shift that accelerated our growth by 7X in the past few years,” said Frank Weishaupt, CEO of Owl Labs. “We are deliberate about what companies we forge relationships with, and we are thrilled to partner with HP, an industry leader in the hybrid work technology space with a mission that’s closely aligned with ours. We believe the workplace will never be the same as it was pre-pandemic, and HP has clearly shown a commitment to transforming it to a hybrid model – not only through its own release of HP Presence, but also through its acquisition of Poly and other investments in the space. This strategic partnership will help us grow even faster and ensure that we continue to maintain our pace-setting lead on product development.”
“Investing in Owl Labs aligns with HP’s strategy to deliver more inclusive and immersive hybrid work solutions to our customers,” said Angelo Del Priore, Partner at HP Tech Ventures. “We have been impressed by Owl Labs’ spirit of innovation and ability to disrupt. We see a bright future for Owl Labs as secular trends in hybrid work provide fertile opportunities for continued innovation, disruption, and growth.”
