Amazon-backed start-up IXI raises $36.5 Million for autofocus eyewear

IXI, the Finnish startup transforming eyewear for the design-conscious and tech-savvy, has raised $36.5 million in Series A funding to launch the world’s first autofocus glasses that reimagine glasses not as a medical device, but as a tech-enhanced lifestyle accessory fit for modern consumers.

Based on dynamic lens technology and eye tracking

Disrupting the $200 billion global eyewear market, IXI’stechnology should provide a wider field of view in a product that works just as nature intended eyes to work.
The company plans creating a new category of eyewear, featuring unique real-time and ultra-low-power eye tracking and state-of-the-art dynamic lens technology. The company describes their design as a “design-first mindset” meaning these glasses should not just be intelligent – they’re designed to be worn.

Investors

The investment was led by London-based investment fund Plural, with participation from Tesi, Heartcore, FOV Ventures, and by Founders; French private equity firm Eurazeo; and German investment company Tiny Supercomputer.
IXI’s existing investors, which include Amazon Alexa Fund, Maki.vc and First Fellow, first minute capital, David Helgason, Ilkka Paananen, John Lindfors and Bragiel Brothers also participated in the round.
The new funding will enable the product development of IXI Adaptive Eyewear; kicking off commercial operations and putting the product in the hands of consumers.

About IXI

IXI was founded in 2021 by Niko Eiden (CEO) and Ville Miettinen (Chief Algorithm Officer). Eiden and Miettinen previously founded industry-defining mixed reality company Varjo (which makes products for advanced VR users including astronauts, pilots, and nuclear power plant operators).
The venture was born out of a shared frustration with the compromises people are forced to make when it comes to traditional progressive lenses: narrow fields of view, peripheral distortion, and difficulty seeing clearly at varying distances. The founders’ experience in advanced optics and eye-tracking solutions inspired them to create a new kind of eyewear that truly solves the challenge of vision correction and liberates people from poor eyesight, without compromising on design.
As global populations age, presbyopia diagnoses increase and millions face significant compromises in multi-focal vision, turning an already widespread challenge into a looming global issue.

Niko Eiden, co-founder and CEO of IXI: “Eyewear is the world’ s oldest wearable, rooted in centuries of brilliance across science, design and craftsmanship. That being said, it’ s incredible that we haven’ t seen more technological leaps, leaving millions of people forced to compromise on how they see the world. The time for change is now. We’ re creating a whole newer a invision tech – and we can’ t wait to show the world what’ s coming. Backed by investors who see the scale of this opportunity, we’ re ready to redefine what eyewear can be.”

Sten Tamkivi, Partner at Plural: “Niko, Ville and the team’ s rare European hardware expertise puts them at the forefront of advanced optics and eye-tracking developments. They’ recreating 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.”