Opdo raises US$2.3 million for AI optical engineering tools
Angular Ventures led the pre-seed round for the Los Angeles and Berlin start-up, with Inflection and Tiny.vc also investing.
Opdo has secured US$2.3 million in pre-seed investment to develop technology aimed at automating optical engineering. The start-up, based in Los Angeles and Berlin, plans to use the funding to strengthen its engineering team’s capabilities, improve its AI tools and undertake additional customer projects.
The company is building a system linking AI-assisted design and simulation to data gathered during manufacturing. It says it has demonstrated that its approach can shorten development and manufacturing timelines to weeks rather than months.
For over a year, Opdo has combined AI agents with engineering specialists on customer assignments. Its technology works inside existing software such as Zemax and CODE V, so engineers can retain their current design tools. Customers can also obtain prototypes and completed components through Opdo.
The company aims to use information from components that have been manufactured and tested to refine its AI models and improve later designs. Its work for customers includes imaging and laser systems, micro-optics and nanostructured surfaces.
Stephan Kuehr, Opdo’s chief executive, founded the business with chief technology officer Yousef Arzhangnia. Their experience covers optical engineering, manufacturing, automation and artificial intelligence. Kuehr also previously co-founded manufacturing software company 3YOURMIND.
