Standard of Excellence: Building Intelligent Supply Chain Ecosystems Before Your Competitors Do
SMT Perspectives & Prospects: The Architecture of Winston Churchill’s Leadership
Global Sourcing Spotlight: Making Global Sourcing Simple Again
Myrias Optics, a world leader in wafer-level metaoptics and diffractive optical technologies, announced the closing of a $2.1 million Seed 1 financing round in January 2026. The round was led by MassVentures, with participation from existing investors Hoss Investment Inc., Maroon Venture Partners, and Tenon Venture Partners, as well as new investors Mill Town Capital, TiE Boston Angels, and Doug Crane.
This financing builds on the company's previously announced $3.3 million seed round completed in December 2023, led by Asia Optical, and complements a $1.5 million National Science Foundation Direct-to-Phase II award. With $6.9 million secured to date, Myrias is advancing commercialization of its proprietary all-inorganic additive nanoimprint platform and expanding production capacity to meet growing customer demand. The company serves customers in augmented reality, AI data centers, consumer electronics, industrial, and medical markets—applications that require durable, high-performance optical components manufactured with precision, repeatability, and cost efficiency.
Across these markets, system designers face a common bottleneck: producing advanced optical components that combine high optical performance, environmental stability, and scalable manufacturing economics. Myrias addresses this challenge through a wafer-level additive nanoimprinting approach that enables thermally stable, all-inorganic optical components produced with high repeatability and significantly lower cost than conventional semiconductor-based processing. In augmented reality systems, for example, the company's industry-leading refractive index for imprinted waveguides enables higher view angles while maintaining manufacturability at scale. In AI data center environments, similar material and manufacturing advantages support improved optical coupling efficiency, alignment tolerance, and thermal robustness for high-speed optical interconnects. These performance and scalability benefits extend across consumer, industrial, and medical imaging platforms, positioning Myrias as a foundational infrastructure supplier for next-generation optical systems.
Proceeds from the Seed 1 round will support manufacturing scale-up, expansion of pilot production lines, and continued execution of active customer programs. Myrias is currently engaged with strategic partners and Tier 1 supply chain participants to integrate its waveguide and metaoptic solutions into commercial AR, AI photonics, and advanced imaging platforms.
"This round reflects validation of both our technology and our execution roadmap," said John Fijol, CEO of Myrias Optics. "Our focus is on delivering production-ready inorganic metaoptics that solve real manufacturing bottlenecks across multiple optical markets. We are seeing strong engagement from customers seeking scalable, cost-effective solutions capable of meeting next-generation performance requirements."
"Traditional polymer-based optical manufacturing presents limitations in durability, thermal stability, and long-term reliability," added Myrias Optics Founder Jim Watkins, professor of Polymer Science and Engineering at University of Massachusetts Amherst. "By combining advanced metasurface design with robust inorganic materials and additive wafer-level processing, we are enabling optical components that meet the performance and supply chain demands of emerging AR, AI, and advanced imaging markets."
"Myrias Optics has the potential to become a category-defining technology platform for the next generation of optical devices. Its ability to manufacture high-performance, high-value components through an exceptionally efficient and cost-effective process — rooted in discoveries from Dr. Watkins' lab at UMass — strongly aligns with MassVentures' mission to support high-potential academic spinouts throughout the Commonwealth," said Myron Kassaraba, Vice President at MassVentures, who led the investment and will join the company's Board of Directors.
Myrias Optics focuses on metaoptics, diffractive optics, and AR waveguides, delivering wafer-level optical solutions that integrate advanced nanostructures with cost-efficient, high-throughput manufacturing. The company's proprietary all-inorganic nanoimprinting technology enables precision optical components with industry-leading material performance, strong yield characteristics, and a clear path to production-scale deployment.
