Dubai startup XPANCEO valued at eye-popping $1.35bn because it develops futuristic night-vision contact lenses 

Dubai-based good contact lens startup XPANCEO has closed a $250m Collection A funding spherical at a $1.35 billion valuation, formally incomes unicorn standing because it accelerates efforts to launch the world’s first all-in-one AI-powered prolonged actuality (XR) good lens.

The funding spherical was led by Alternative Enterprise (Asia), which additionally spearheaded XPANCEO’s $40m seed spherical.

The brand new capital will assist closing product growth, world workforce enlargement, and fast-track the corporate’s go-to-market technique — with a imaginative and prescient to interchange smartphones, smartwatches, and different gadgets with a single seamless wearable: the eye-based good lens.

XPANCEO focuses on future after $250m funding enhance in Dubai

Roman Axelrod, founder and Managing Associate at XPANCEO, stated: “There’s broad consensus throughout Massive Tech that AI-powered wearable XR is the longer term. But, main gamers have solely not too long ago begun constructing glasses and headsets, so our good lens expertise places us a minimum of 5 years forward.

“Turning into a unicorn is a robust sign that we’re on the precise path. In simply 24 months, we’ve developed 15 working prototypes, every unlocking a brand new layer of chance. Our imaginative and prescient stays the identical: to merge all of your gadgets right into a single, invisible interface – your eyes.”

Not like tech giants targeted on cumbersome headsets or good glasses, XPANCEO is creating a next-gen wearable that integrates:

• AI-powered XR for immersive experiences
• Actual-time well being monitoring, together with intraocular stress and glucose ranges by way of tear fluid
• Zoom, night time imaginative and prescient, and color correction capabilities
• Wi-fi charging and knowledge studying in actual time
• 3D imaging by way of nano-optic lenses

Since 2023, the brand new unicorn has developed 15 working prototypes and earned 24 worldwide awards in optics, deep tech, and wearable innovation. Its workforce has contributed to 110 scientific publications and collaborates with prime world establishments together with College of Manchester, Nationwide College of Singapore, Donostia Worldwide Physics Centre and the College of Dubai.

Dr. Valentyn S. Volkov, Founder and Scientific Associate at XPANCEO, stated: “To construct one thing this bold, we needed to push the boundaries of science itself. Our workforce possesses distinctive experience on the forefront of physics, together with on novel supplies, nanoparticles growth, nano-optics, and extra.

XPANCEO has scaled quickly, doubling its workforce from 50 to 100 and increasing its state-of-the-art laboratories to assist breakthrough analysis in nano-optics, novel supplies, and wearable computing.

With the private computing market projected to exceed $750 billion over the subsequent decade, traders see the agency as uniquely positioned to guide the post-smartphone period.

Philip Ma, Managing Director of Alternative Enterprise (Asia), stated: “We see XPANCEO as a once-in-a-generation challenge. They’re not simply constructing a product, they’re rewriting the principles of private tech. We backed them early as a result of we noticed the boldness of their imaginative and prescient”. 

Industrial launch timelines haven’t been disclosed, however with unicorn funding secured, the way forward for private computing might quickly be proper earlier than our eyes.