IXI raises $36.5M for autofocus glasses that promise sharper, smarter vision

Finnish eyewear company IXI, has come out of stealth and 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. 

IXI was founded in 2021 in Espoo, Finland, to create eyewear that provides optimal vision in every situation. It's developed glasses that intelligently adapt to your eye movements, automatically focusing to help you see more — sharper, all within beautifully designed frames. IXI's technology will provide a wider field of view in a product that works just as nature intended eyes to work.

I spoke to Niko Eiden (CEO) and Jussi Havu (COO) to find out more. It's the third time the serial entrepreneurs have worked together over the last ten years. 

Serial entrepreneurship creates a new category of eyewear

IXI  is not only disrupting the $200 billion global eyewear market but creating a new category of eyewear, featuring unique real-time and ultra-low-power eye tracking and state-of-the-art dynamic 
lens technology. 

IXI was founded in 2021 by Eiden and Ville Miettinen, Chief Algorithm Officer. Eiden and Miettinen previously founded the industry-defining mixed reality company Varjo, which makes products for advanced VR users, including astronauts, pilots, and nuclear power plant operators.

As global populations age, presbyopia (the ability to see close objects clearly) diagnoses increase and millions face significant compromises in multi-focal vision, turning an already widespread challenge into a looming global issue.

However, traditional progressive lenses mean narrow fields of view, peripheral distortion, and difficulty seeing clearly at varying distances.

Yet according to Eiden, the eyewear industry. It has stayed pretty much the same for decades, with absolutely no tech applied to correct eyesight. 

"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"

Jussi shared, "We're creating a new product category: auto-focus eyewear that provides optimal vision for every situation. We combine technologies to give you the vision correction you need at the right distance, in real time.

Eiden detailed:

"Our aim is that you see everything clearly, with a wider field of view for reading. And when you look into the distance, you have your full field of vision back — no 'reading area' blocking your far view.

It's almost like going back to when you were 20 or 30 years old and had single-vision glasses."

It's a massively compelling value proposition, especially for progressive lens users and people who currently wear reading glasses and have to constantly put them on and take them off.

How IXI's core technology works

IXI's core technology is real-time eye tracking and adjustable optical power.
Eiden explained: 

"We've developed an eye-tracking technology that fits into the frames and operates at low power, allowing it to run continuously. It measures the vectors of both eyeballs. When you focus on something close, your eyes naturally converge slightly.

Based on this convergence, we can determine the distance you're looking at and adjust the optical power accordingly.

It's similar to how a camera autofocuses, but instead of measuring where the lens is pointed, we're tracking how your eyes are oriented."

In terms of the tech, two key things need to happen: the eye tracker must detect changes quickly, and the lenses must adjust accordingly. 

"We don't use cameras — even the tiny ones — are actually quite bulky. They require a lot of electricity to operate, and the amount of data they produce is enormous. Processing 60 frames per second at a million pixels per frame creates a huge computational load.

So, we developed a completely different method for eye tracking — one that's far more efficient."

I took a look at a pair of transparent demonstration models that showcase the technology. The batteries are embedded in the temples — very small, about four millimetres in diameter — and provide enough power for a full day of use. The microcontroller and radio connectivity are housed in the nose bridge, while the lens-driving electronics are embedded along the edges. The infrared sensors used for eye tracking are seamlessly integrated into the plastic of the lenses themselves. 

This means a powerhouse of tech in a regular-sized glasses frame.

Why hasn't anyone done this before?

The obvious question is why we haven't seen these kinds of glasses on the market before. Why has nobody else done this? Eiden attributes this to difficulty: 

"We had to solve three very hard problems: create a dynamic lens, automate the out-of-focus adjustment without buttons, and integrate everything into a form factor people would actually wear — when somebody's wearing our prototype here in the office, I have to take two or three glances to figure out whether that's their glasses or actually are they wearing the prototype?

The team has been extremely active over the past four years — generating more than 150 inventions. So far, it's been granted 12 patents across the different technologies with around 50 additional patent applications in the pipeline. 

Eiden shared that "Compared to many startups, we've invested heavily in building a strong IP portfolio to ensure that the novel technologies we've developed are well protected."

Further, beyond patents, there is also a significant know-how factor. For example, IXI has created our proprietary equipment in dynamic lens manufacturing and produces everything in-house. 

"So even if someone were to get hold of our product, there are still several critical techniques they'd need to figure out to replicate it. It's not easy to copy."

The company is launching its own brand, IXI Adaptive. Early on, it decided that it made more sense to control the full experience.

 Although IXI still has development work, the company plans to showcase additional prototypes and technology demonstrations later this year. While confirming a specific launch date is too early, the team emphasises that it will not be years away. 

Regarding pricing, the product will not be the most affordable on the market, but it is also not intended to be an ultra-luxury item. IXI expects the price to be comparable to high-end progressive lenses combined with designer frames. As production scales, prices are expected to come down. 

Unlike many other smart glasses, IXI's components are not inherently expensive; instead, the business model relies heavily on achieving volume production.

Jussi detailed: 

"There hasn't been a lot of innovation in the eyewear industry, and we saw an opportunity. That said, it's possible we may also license the technology to others in the future."

According to Eiden, fundraising was tough.

Hardware startups are cash-intensive, and most investors today prefer software businesses where they expect existing revenue. We had to find extraordinary investors who believed in the vision.

Some even seem more excited than we are — if that's possible! But yes, it took time and resilience."

Plural led the investment, with participation from Tesi, Heartcore, FOV Ventures, and byFounders; 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, firstminute capital, David Helgason, Ilkka Paananen, John Lindfors and Bragiel Brothers also participated in the round. 

According to 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'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 revolutionises how we see the world." 

The new funding will enable the development of IXI Adaptive Eyewear, kick off commercial operations, and put the product in consumers' hands.

Lead image: Ville Miettinen, Jussi Havu, Henna Mäkinen, and Niko Eiden of IXI. Photo: uncredited.