Helsinki-based startup IXI has today announced the close of a $36.5 million funding round, allowing it to develop IRL-Magic’s innovative autofocusing eyewear technology. This first round of investment includes notable contributions from a number of big name investors. Among these were significant names like Plural, Tesi, byFounders, Heartcore, Eurazeo, FOV Ventures, Tiny Supercomputer and the Amazon Alexa Fund.
Founded four years ago, IXI is now coming out of stealth mode, and ready to chip away at that $200 billion eyewear market. Since then, the company has focused on developing an eyewear product that revolutionizes the vision correction experience. With only one pair of glasses, consumers can meet a variety of visual needs. After more than five years of laboratory testing, the technology is now putting the final touches on preparation for deployment in the real world.
IXI’s vision centers around combining various vision requirements into one lens, addressing a common frustration faced by many eyewear users. Image courtesy of Molekule The startup’s autofocus technology provides on-demand vision correction customized to each user’s unique eyes. This would be a pretty radical improvement in the user experience.
IXI’s products have a battery life of around two full days. This combination ensures that it’s a nimble, agile choice for a day-to-day commuter. The company had originally planned to commercialize their first product in 2022. Now, to be more precise in its technological development and move toward entering the market, it has changed its target to 2026.
IXI is further testing specialized glasses tailored for use by delivery drivers. This new initiative with UPS is designed to improve speed of delivery by improving the drivers’ visual acuity as they drive along their routes. A working prototype of the product will be revealed later this year. This is a huge milestone for IXI’s ongoing development process.
Investors are optimistic about IXI’s power to reinvent the eyewear world. Three IXI experts on the importance of IXI’s mission Paul Bernard, Industry Veteran Paul Bernard.
“The idea of bringing on-demand vision-correction to where it’s needed in Rx eyewear is compelling.” – Paul Bernard
He went on to tell us about the technical obstacles IXI is currently working to overcome with eye-tracking and lens switching.
“Auto-tuning lenses require low-power/high performance eye-tracking and algorithmic adjustment to liquid crystal lenses at very high speed. We think the IXI team is well suited to tackle these problems given their previous work at Varjo, where they worked on advancing the SOTA in VR/XR technologies.” – Paul Bernard
Niko Eiden, another major player at IXI, stressed that the company’s approach is really one of a kind.
“There really aren’t that many trying to use technology to actually fix eyesight, and that’s that’s kind of the cool part for us.” – Niko Eiden
Plural Partner Sten Tamkivi reflected on the extraordinary experience held by IXI’s founding team.
“Niko, Ville and the team’s rare European hardware expertise puts them at the forefront of advanced optics and eye-tracking developments.” – Sten Tamkivi
Tamkivi was likewise excited about the broader and longer-term implications of IXI’s work.
“They’re creating beautiful, literally invisible technology that pioneers a new approach to vision which will finally improve human eyesight once and for all. By backing IXI, we’re not just investing in a company, but in a future where technology revolutionizes how we see the world.” – Sten Tamkivi
The prescription eyewear market has increased to $149 billion. It’s doing so at an incredible clip – more than 8% CAGR, faster than other sectors such as smartwatches and smartphones. Given the growing demand for innovative optical solutions, IXI’s commitment to producing high-tech eyewear is perfectly in sync with the evolution of this fast-growing market. The multifaceted company remains committed to improving lives through innovation beyond vision with emerging technologies. This promise represents a huge step forward into the future of the industry’s approach to vision correction and treatment.
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