Pixieray emerges from stealth with $4.4M seed funding to develop adaptive eyeglasses

10 June, 2021 – Espoo, Finland

Pixieray™ today emerged from stealth with initial details about its seed funding, product vision, founding team and a key company advisor.

Pixieray introduces a pioneering optical solution to eyeglasses, giving perfect vision to the wearer in all use contexts. A traditional eyeglass lens is a mechanical and optical compromise, with fixed focal points. Pixieray’s adaptive solution delivers unmatched optical performance by constantly adjusting the focal point and applying the ideal correction. This reduces eye strain and substantially increases user comfort.

The company’s first product will enable people with a farsighted eyeglass prescription to read and work with optimal vision, removing cumbersome multifocals and the need to switch eyeglasses. Optical strength can be adjusted by the wearer over time to match changes in their vision.  Pixieray technology also significantly increases the clear field of view compared to multifocal lenses.

For now, the company is keeping any further product and company details confidential but is hiring across various positions in engineering and operations. The company has raised a total of $4.4M USD from a range of forward-thinking venture capital firms and angel investors, including lead investors Maki.vc (Finland) and First Fellow (Finland), Amazon Alexa Fund (US), firstminute capital (UK), David Helgason (Denmark), Ilkka Paananen (Finland), John Lindfors (Hong Kong, China) and Bragiel Brothers (US).

Pixieray founders and scientific advisor are:

• Niko Eiden, Chief Executive Officer (Microsoft, Varjo, CERN);

• Rebecca Xu, Chief Operation Officer (Foxconn, Nokia, Murata);

• Klaus Melakari, Chief Technology Officer (Nokia, Microsoft, Varjo);

• Ville Miettinen, Chief Algorithm Officer (NVIDIA, Varjo);

• Professor Jocelyn Faubert, Company Advisor (Director of Faubert Lab at the Université de Montréal)

“Pixieray has a world class team with track records in solving complex technology problems on behalf of customers,” said Paul Bernard, Director, Amazon Alexa Fund. “The team has a compelling vision (pardon the pun) for advancing the state of the art in corrective eyewear in a way that moves computing to the background and makes it truly ambient. We look forward to working with Niko and team to help make their vision a reality.” 

“Together with our investors, we believe that Pixieray can make a meaningful difference for the millions of people around the world who rely on their eyeglasses for everyday life. To help address this challenge, we are pleased to welcome two new board members, Risto Siilasmaa (First Fellow Partners, former Chairman of Nokia) and Ilkka Kivimaki (maki.vc),” noted Niko Eiden, CEO of Pixieray.

“Pixieray lenses truly enable the full potential of an individual's corrected vision,” said Rebecca Xu, COO of Pixieray. “Our technology is deeply rooted in the way we comprehend the world through our vision and enables us to use our eyes as nature intended. As a first step, our lenses will provide a wide and dynamic clear field of view for near and intermediate distance, addressing the limitations of today’s progressive lenses.”

Pixieray modernizes traditional eyeglass optics by introducing a pioneering adaptive solution giving anyone perfect vision.  Founded by renowned figures in Augmented Reality (AR) technology, Pixieray is backed by a group of prominent international VCs and has just emerged from stealth mode.  The company is based in the Helsinki region, home to Finland's vibrant tech and startup community.  Learn more at www.pixieray.com.