Omnia Buys Augmented Reality Startup SpotKwik To Boost XR Innovation

US-based spatial computing company Omnia has bought Silicon Valley-funded augmented reality (AR) social commerce startup SpotKwik to boost extended reality (XR) innovation for businesses. 

However, the company did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.

With this buyout, the startup seeks to leverage its distribution channel through Omnia’s distribution network.

Omnia will build on top of SpotKwik’s tech stack and integrate its technological solution within its ecosystem, SpotKwik’s cofounder Mithun Adith told Inc42. 

The Bengaluru-based startup began as a B2C social commerce platform in 2020 to auto-tag influencer posts with products, allowing users to try on and purchase items virtually. It had partnerships with ecommerce giants such as Meesho and Amazon to drive traffic to these platforms. 

Later, SpotKwik pivoted to a B2B model and had pilots with companies like eyeglasses brand Framekart, influencer marketing platform Click2Collab and influencer marketing brand, GladUCame among other consumer brands. 

Meanwhile, Omnia, founded in 2021 by Aldo Petruzzelli, claims to offer an ecosystem of web, mobile, and XR (extended reality) components that facilitate the hosting and distribution of content across XR-enabled devices via the web and native OSes environments. 

It also acts as a marketplace for AR creators, enterprises, and brands, serving spatial experiences to its clients.

“Omnia has Tesla and HP as clients, so with this distribution network we are going to leverage our distribution channel. We are very strong in technology but we lack the distribution channel,” said Adith. 

He added that the whole idea for this acquisition is to move from mobile computing to spatial computing. 

For the uninitiated, mobile computing access and utilise data and applications on smartphones and tablets, while spatial computing allows interactions with computers in 3-dimensional spaces through technologies like VR (virtual reality), AR and MR (mixed reality). 

“We were pretty much into the US and Indian markets but after Covid and then Russia-Ukraine conflict, markets were dull so we started looking for a strategic acquisition,” said Adith, citing reasons behind the acquisition.

“The acquisition of SpotKwik is a strategic step in Omnia’s mission to bridge the gap between traditional web-based experiences and the spatial computing revolution. By integrating SpotKwik’s capabilities, we’re enabling seamless conversion of Web-based builds into spatial-ready applications, accelerating adoption across industries,” said Petruzzelli. 

This acquisition came at a time when startup mergers and acquisitions in India are expected to shoot up by 58% in 2025, after a poor spell in 2024 when only 71 such deals were recorded. 

In the most recent development, ride-hailing giant Uber is reportedly in early talks to acquire EV cab-hailing startup BluSmart Mobility.