A few weeks ago, we announced our second major round of funding, which was lead by our newest investor Intel Capital. We also took the opportunity to mention our gradual expansion to the United States, highlighting a few job openings we had opened Stateside.

Today we are proud to introduce our very first U.S.-based Layar employee: AR Strategist Gene Becker. You may actually remember that name, as we recently highlighted a project Gene is working on with historical photographs in Layar.

Previously, Gene worked in research and product development for over 20 years, including leading projects through Hewlett-Packard’s technology research unit HP Labs. He has also been a co-organizer of ARDevCamp for the last two years, as well as managing director of Lightning Laboratories.

So what will Gene be doing for Layar? As AR Strategist, Gene will be responsible for fostering the expansion of the Layar ecosystem by working with creative and digital agencies, brands, developers, data suppliers and media companies. As we begin to grow our U.S. presence we want to encourage these groups to produce high-value, cutting edge mobile AR experiences on the Layar platform, and Gene will be a key part of achieving that goal.

To learn more about Gene and his new role with Layar, check out his blog post on the news. You can also follow Gene on Twitter or connect with him on LinkedIn as well!