The funding will propel XPANCEO’s goal of launching what it described as the first all-in-one smart contact lens – combining extended reality (XR), real-time health tracking, night vision, and zoom capabilities into an AI-powered XR interface.

Opportunity Venture (Asia), which also led XPANCEO’s $40 million seed round, headed the Series A round. The funds will be used to complete the development of the smart lens, scale the team across research, product development, design, and operations, and fast-track the route to market. XPANCEO has outlined a long-term ambition: to consolidate personal technology into a single, integrated wearable.

“There’s broad consensus across big tech that AI-powered wearable XR is the future. Yet, major players have only recently begun building glasses and headsets, so our smart lens technology puts us at least five years ahead,” said Roman Axelrod, Founder and Managing Partner at XPANCEO. “Becoming a unicorn is a powerful signal that we’re on the right path. In just 24 months, we’ve developed 15 working prototypes, each unlocking a new layer of possibility. Our vision remains the same: to merge all your devices into a single, invisible interface – your eyes.”

Since closing its previous round in 2023, XPANCEO has made significant strides in its technological development. Among its key advancements have been an augmented reality (AR) vision lens, a smart lens equipped with intraocular pressure (IOP) sensors for glaucoma monitoring, and a biochemical lens capable of detecting health metrics such as glucose levels directly from tear fluid. The company has also developed a lens that enabled real-time wireless charging and data transmission.

Additional prototypes included lenses enhanced with nanoparticles for night vision and colour correction, alongside models tailored for 3D imaging. These innovations collectively earned XPANCEO and its founders 24 international awards across deeptech, optics, and wearable technology.

“To build something this ambitious, we had to push the boundaries of science itself,” said Dr. Valentyn S. Volkov, Founder and Scientific Partner at XPANCEO. “Our team possesses exceptional expertise at the forefront of physics, including on novel materials, nanoparticles development, nano-optics, and more. Our unique approach to research, which leverages AI to optimise our R&D workflows and patent analysis, allowed us to accelerate the development of an unprecedented number of prototypes in a short time and contribute to 110 scientific publications in leading journals, collaborating closely with world-renowned experts.”

“We see XPANCEO as a once-in-a-generation project,” said Philip Ma, Managing Director of Opportunity Venture (Asia). “They’re not just building a product, they’re rewriting the rules of personal tech. We backed them early because we saw the boldness of their vision. Today, they’ve proven they can execute. With this funding, XPANCEO is poised to lead the post-smartphone era and redefine the personal computing landscape.”

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