++ OLED EXPO 2020 ++

Flexible OLED developer Royole has raised $800 million in its fourth financing round, from Bank of China, ICBC, Citiy Bank and others. Part of that round ($560 million) was in debt while the rest was in equity.

Flexible AMOLED prototype (Royole, 2017)

Royole`s previous financing round was in November 2016 - when it raised $75.5 million at a valuation of $3 billion. It`s likely that the current financing round is at an even larger valuation.

Royole is constructing a 5.5-Gen flexible OLED production facility in Shenzhen, China. The new fab is scheduled to begin operation in 2018 and will have a monthly capacity of 45,000 substrates.

In addition to flexible OLED production and R&D, Royole also develops VR headsets, and in 2016 Royole launched its first product, the Royole Moon foldable VR headset - that uses OLED microdisplays to achieve a PPI of over 3,000. The $799 Moon also includes noise-cancelling headphones and runs on the company`s own Moon OS. It is not clear if Royole produces or purchases these microdisplays.

Royole is also developing flexible sensor technology, and offers its IP for licensing. The company says it has over 500 patents (issued and pending) - in the areas of materials, processes, devices, circuits, software and product design.