Mojo Vision
More actions
| Mojo Vision | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Type | Private |
| Industry | Micro-LED displays, optical interconnects |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Founder | Drew Perkins, Mike Wiemer, Michael Deering |
| Headquarters | Cupertino, California, United States |
| Notable Personnel | Nikhil Balram (CEO), Mike Wiemer (CTO) |
| Products | Mojo Vision Lens (prototype), micro-LED microdisplays, micro-LED optical interconnects |
| Website | https://www.mojo.vision |
Mojo Vision is an American technology company that develops micro-LED displays and micro-LED based optical interconnects. It was founded in 2015 and spent its first years building Mojo Lens, an augmented reality smart contact lens with a built-in display, which it revealed in January 2020.[1][2] In January 2023 the company slowed work on the lens, cut about 75 percent of its staff and turned to commercializing the micro-LED display technology it had developed for it.[3]
Mojo Vision's display work is aimed partly at AR glasses and other XR devices. Its 2019 display measured 0.48 mm across at 14,000 pixels per inch, and the company later showed red and full-color quantum-dot micro-LED prototypes for AR use.[4][5] Since 2025 it has also pitched the same platform for optical links in AI data centers, including a collaboration with Marvell Technology announced in March 2026.[6]
History
Founding and the contact lens years
Mojo Vision was founded in 2015.[2][7] The company's January 2020 announcement named CEO Drew Perkins, CTO Mike Wiemer and Chief Science Officer Michael Deering as its co-founders, and gave Saratoga, California, as its base.[1] Perkins had earlier co-founded the optical networking company Infinera and the cable network startup Gainspeed, which Nokia acquired in 2016.[8]
The company emerged from stealth in 2019 by revealing a display rather than a product. In June 2019 IEEE Spectrum reported on a gallium nitride micro-LED array 0.48 mm across, with 1.3 µm pixels separated by 0.5 µm gaps for a density of 14,000 pixels per inch, bonded to a silicon CMOS backplane. Mojo would not say at the time what the display was for. The same report put the startup's venture funding at US$108 million, including money from the venture arms of Alphabet, HP and LG.[4]
On 16 January 2020 Mojo Vision announced Mojo Lens, describing it as a contact lens with a built-in display for what it called "Invisible Computing". The lens incorporated the company's 14K PPI display, an image sensor, a custom wireless radio and motion sensors for eye tracking and image stabilization. Mojo said it was working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration through the Breakthrough Device Program and announced a partnership with Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Palo Alto. One early planned application was a low-vision aid offering real-time contrast and lighting enhancement and zoom. The company said it had raised more than US$100 million from investors including NEA, Shanda Group, Khosla Ventures, Gradient Ventures, HP Tech Ventures, Motorola Solutions, LG Electronics and Liberty Global.[1] In April 2020 it raised a further US$51 million, bringing its reported venture total to US$159 million.[8]
In February 2021 Mojo principal engineer Rituraj Singh presented the lens's low-power imager and image-processing circuits at the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, held virtually that year. Because of the limits of eye-safe batteries, the imager and the image processor each had to consume little more than about 100 µW; the imager captured 256 x 256 monochrome pixels on a 1.3 mm² chip that drew 61 to 95 µW depending on frame rate and bit resolution.[9] In February 2021 IEEE Spectrum reported that the company had about 100 employees, that Japanese contact lens maker Menicon had agreed in 2020 to help refine the lens materials and coatings, and that about a dozen employees had worn early prototypes.[10]
In January 2022 Mojo announced a US$45 million Series B-1 round with investors including the Amazon Alexa Fund, PTC, Edge Investments and HiJoJo Partners, which took its total funding to US$205 million. At CES 2022 it also named fitness and sports app partners, among them Adidas Running, Trailforks, Wearable X, Slopes and 18Birdies.[11] A new prototype followed in March 2022, and on 23 June 2022 Perkins wore a feature-complete lens on his own eye, the first on-eye test of that version. The 2022 prototype ran on medical-grade microbatteries and used a custom 5 GHz radio and a monochrome micro-LED display of 14,000 pixels per inch.[12] The lens itself is covered in Mojo Vision Lens.
Pivot to micro-LED
On 6 January 2023 Perkins wrote that Mojo had been unable to find additional private funding to continue developing Mojo Lens, citing a slumping global economy, tight capital markets and the unproven market for advanced AR products. The company decelerated work on the lens, reduced its workforce by approximately 75 percent and moved its resources to micro-LED displays, which it said could "disrupt the entire $160B display industry". Perkins described the pursuit of Invisible Computing as "on hold for now".[3][13] MIXED reported that the company had about 110 employees the previous summer.[14]
In April 2023 Mojo raised US$22.4 million in what it called a "new Series A", led by existing investors NEA and Khosla Ventures. Nikhil Balram, previously senior vice president and general manager of Mojo's micro-LED business and before that CEO of AR company EyeWay Vision, became chief executive; Perkins stepped down as CEO but stayed on as an investor.[15][16] The round closed in October 2023 at US$43.5 million, with Vanedge Capital joining as a new lead investor. By then Perkins was described as co-founder and chairman of the board.[17] In March 2024 Achin Bhowmik, then president of the Society for Information Display and chief technology officer of Starkey, joined the board as an independent director.[18]
AI infrastructure focus
In September 2025 Mojo Vision, now based in Cupertino, closed a US$75 million Series B Prime round led by Vanedge Capital. The release framed the company as a "micro-LED platform" business and listed AI glasses and optical interconnects among its target products.[19] Road to VR, citing Crunchbase data, put the company's total funding at US$345 million and reported that the company was targeting XR glasses, large-format displays and optical interconnects for AI infrastructure.[2] Marvell Technology later said it had been the largest investor in that round.[6]
On 12 March 2026 Marvell and Mojo Vision announced a multi-generational agreement to co-develop micro-LED optical interconnects for hyperscale and cloud data centers. The design combines electrical circuitry, micro-LED emitters, photodetectors, multicore fiber bundles and software-defined alignment.[6] Later that month Mojo received a US$17.5 million strategic investment from Future Ventures, the firm co-founded by Steve Jurvetson.[7][20] In April 2026 it added Nobel chemistry laureate Moungi Bawendi, known for his work on quantum dots, to its advisory board.[21] As of October 2026 the company's site lists Balram as CEO and Wiemer as CTO.[22]
Products and technology
Mojo Vision has not announced a consumer product. Its public output consists of the Mojo Lens prototype and a series of display and manufacturing milestones, most of them company claims announced through press releases.
| Date | Milestone | Details |
|---|---|---|
| May 2019 | 14K PPI microdisplay | GaN micro-LED display 0.48 mm across, 14,000 pixels per inch, 1.3 µm pixels on a CMOS backplane[1][4] |
| January 2020 | Mojo Lens revealed | Smart contact lens prototype with the 14K PPI display, image sensor, radio and eye-tracking motion sensors[1] |
| June 2022 | First on-eye test of feature-complete lens | Worn by CEO Drew Perkins on 23 June 2022[12] |
| January 2023 | Lens work decelerated | About 75 percent of staff laid off; focus moved to micro-LED[3] |
| May 2023 | 300 mm GaN-on-silicon wafer | Light-up of what Mojo calls the first 300 mm GaN-on-silicon blue micro-LED array wafer[23] |
| May 2023 | DigiLens partnership | Mojo micro-LED panels combined with DigiLens surface relief grating waveguides for AR and XR products[24] |
| June 2023 | Red quantum-dot micro-LED | 14K ppi red microdisplay with red micro-LEDs 1.37 µm in diameter on a 1.87 µm pitch; Mojo claimed a record for red wavelengths of 620 nm or more[25] |
| January 2024 | Single-panel RGB proof of concept | Shown at CES 2024; 1.3 µm red and green quantum-dot sub-pixels beside native blue sub-pixels, aimed at outdoor AR devices[5] |
| March 2026 | Marvell collaboration | Micro-LED optical interconnects for AI data centers[6] |
XR work
Mojo Lens put an AR display inside a contact lens rather than in a pair of smart glasses. It used eye tracking based on an accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer in the lens, and the 2022 prototype dropped the image sensor, which Mojo planned to add later.[12] The company said in 2020 that it held patents related to AR smart contact lenses dating back more than ten years, and that it was running feasibility clinical studies under Institutional Review Board approval, but the lens was never offered for sale.[1]
After the pivot, AR and XR displays stayed among the company's stated markets. Its red micro-LED and RGB announcements were framed around full-color microdisplays for AR glasses; at the RGB announcement Mojo argued that commercial quantum dots made for LCDs were not reliable enough under the high light levels AR glasses require.[5][25] The DigiLens deal paired Mojo's micro-LEDs with DigiLens' surface relief grating waveguide technology; the companies said it would improve DigiLens' existing products in the near term and support later AR/XR products.[24] Road to VR's coverage of the 2025 round described the funding as support for micro-LED displays for XR glasses.[2]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Mojo Vision Developing First True Smart Contact Lens". Business Wire. Mojo Vision. 2020-01-16. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200116005221/en/Mojo-Vision-Developing-True-Smart-Contact-Lens. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Scott Hayden (2025-09-09). "Mojo Vision Secures $75M Investment to Commercialize Micro-LED Displays for XR Glasses". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/mojo-vision-75-m-series-b-xr-micro-led-display/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Drew Perkins (2023-01-06). "A New Direction for Mojo Vision's Groundbreaking Technology". Mojo Vision. https://www.mojo.vision/news/a-new-direction. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Samuel K. Moore (2019-06-03). "This MicroLED Display Is Smaller Than a Bug". IEEE Spectrum. https://spectrum.ieee.org/this-microled-display-is-smaller-than-a-bug. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Nick Flaherty (2024-01-10). "Breakthrough for single panel RGB microLED display". eeNews Europe. https://www.eenewseurope.com/en/breakthrough-for-single-panel-rgb-microled-display. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Marvell and Mojo Vision Collaborate to Develop Next-generation, High-density Micro-LED Connectivity Solutions". Marvell Technology. 2026-03-12. https://investor.marvell.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/1012/marvell-and-mojo-vision-collaborate-to-develop-next-generation-high-density-micro-led-connectivity-solutions. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Mojo Vision Secures $17.5M for Micro-LED Optical I/O". Converge Digest. 2026-03-25. https://convergedigest.com/mojo-vision-secures-17-5m-for-micro-led-optical-i-o/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Mike Dano (2020-04-29). "Mojo banks another $51M, moves closer to connected contact lens". Light Reading. https://www.lightreading.com/5g/mojo-banks-another-$51m-moves-closer-to-connected-contact-lens/d/d-id/759288. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ Samuel K. Moore (2021-03-19). "Mojo Vision Details Low-Power Chips for Augmented Reality Contact Lenses". IEEE Spectrum. https://spectrum.ieee.org/mojovision-details-lowpower-chips-for-augmented-reality-contact-lenses. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ Tekla S. Perry (2021-02-19). "Augmented Reality Contact Lens Startup Develops Apps With Early Adopters-to-Be". IEEE Spectrum. https://spectrum.ieee.org/startup-mojo-vision-has-the-earliest-adopters-of-augmented-reality-contact-lenses-in-its-sights. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ Scott Hayden (2022-01-05). "Mojo Vision Raises Additional $45M to Put Smart Contacts in the Eyes of Athletes". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/mojo-vision-45m-investment-smart-contacts/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Tekla S. Perry (2022-06-28). "Mojo Vision Puts Its AR Contact Lens Into Its CEO's Eyes (Literally)". IEEE Spectrum. https://spectrum.ieee.org/looking-through-mojo-visions-newest-ar-contact-lens. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ David Heaney (2023-01-11). "Mojo Vision Is Ceasing Work On Its Smart Contact Lens". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/mojo-vision-contact-lens-dead/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ Matthias Bastian (2023-01-08). "Mojo Vision pivots to MicroLED after failed AR contact lens investor search". MIXED. https://mixed-news.com/en/mojo-vision-turns-to-microled-after-failed-investor-hunt-for-ar-contact-lenses/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ Brian Heater (2023-04-05). "After losing sight of its initial pitch, Mojo Vision eyes pivot with $22.4M raise". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2023/04/05/after-losing-sight-of-its-initial-pitch-mojo-vision-eyes-pivot-with-22-4m-raise/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ Scott Hayden (2023-04-06). "Smart Contact Lens Company Mojo Vision Raises $22M, Pivots to Micro-LED Displays for XR & More". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/mojo-vision-micro-led-22-m-series-a/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ "Mojo Vision Closes Successful New Series A Funding Round with $43.5M to Drive Micro-LED Development and Commercialization". Business Wire. Mojo Vision. 2023-10-12. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231012327765/en/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ "Mojo Vision appoints Achin Bhowmik to board". Semiconductor Today. 2024-03-29. https://semiconductor-today.com/news_items/2024/mar/mojo-290324.shtml. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ "Mojo Vision Closes Series B Prime Funding Round With $75M to Expand AI Applications of its High-Performance Micro-LED Platform". Venture Capital Access Online. Mojo Vision. 2025-09-04. https://www.vcaonline.com/news/2025090402/mojo-vision-closes-series-b-prime-funding-round-with-75m-to-expand-ai-applications-of-its-high-performance-micro-led-platform/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ Sam Sprigg (2026-04-02). "Former Smart Contact Lens Developer Mojo Vision Secures $17.5M for AI Infrastructure". Auganix. https://www.auganix.org/?p=18256. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ "Mojo Vision Adds Quantum Dot Pioneer to Advisory Board". Converge Digest. 2026-04-23. https://convergedigest.com/mojo-vision-adds-quantum-dot-pioneer-to-advisory-board/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ "About". Mojo Vision. https://www.mojo.vision/about. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ "Mojo Vision develops first 300mm GaN-on-Si blue LED wafer for micro-LED display". Semiconductor Today. 2023-05-24. https://semiconductor-today.com/news_items/2023/may/mojovision-240523.shtml. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 "Mojo Vision and DigiLens partner on products for AR glasses". Semiconductor Today. 2023-05-30. https://semiconductor-today.com/news_items/2023/may/mojovision-gigilens-300523.shtml. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Mojo Vision powers highest-density red micro-LED micro-display". Semiconductor Today. 2023-06-29. https://semiconductor-today.com/news_items/2023/jun/mojovision-290623.shtml. Retrieved 2026-10-15.