Cephia AI, a Princeton University spinout developing advanced AI-driven computational imaging technologies and metamaterial-based silicon sensors, announced the close of a $4 million seed funding round to accelerate the development and commercialization of its multimodal sensing platform.
The funding round was led by Radiant Opto-Electronics Corporation (ROE) and co-led by Incharge Capital, with participation from MetaVC Partners, NRM Partners, and SOSV. Cephia will use the new capital to scale its product roadmap, expand its engineering and commercial teams, and deepen customer engagements across industries such as consumer electronics, manufacturing, and precision agriculture.
Positioned at the intersection of machine vision, robotics, and edge AI, Cephia is developing superhuman vision sensors based on biological principles inspired by the eyes of mantis shrimp, dragonflies, and cephalopods. The company’s metamaterials-based silicon sensors bend light in ways that enable perception beyond human and traditional camera capabilities. These innovations stem from over a decade of research in computational imaging at Princeton University.
The company’s founding team includes Bo Dong (Founder & CEO), formerly computer vision lead at Disney Research Imagineering and senior researcher at SRI and ESPN Advanced Technology Group; Ethan Tseng (Founder & CTO), a Princeton Ph.D. who created the world’s first full-color metasurface cameras; and Felix Heide (Founder), Professor at Princeton University and Head of AI at Torc Robotics, as well as Co-Founder and former CTO of Algolux, which was acquired by Torc Robotics, a Daimler Truck subsidiary.
Radiant Opto-Electronics Corporation President Justin Wang will join Cephia’s board through representative Theodor Nielsen, CEO of NIL Technology. The company’s backers see immense potential for Cephia’s sensor technology to redefine multimodal vision systems and open new applications across major industries.
Cephia’s technology combines proprietary hardware and software co-design, creating sensing systems that can interpret the world with unprecedented depth and clarity. Through ongoing pilots and partnerships, Cephia is positioning itself to lead the emergence of physical AGI — artificial intelligence capable of perceiving and interacting with the physical world in sophisticated, human-like ways.
KEY QUOTES:
“This funding marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of multimodal sensing. Our metamaterials-based technology is inspired by nature — drawing from creatures like mantis shrimp, dragonflies, and cephalopods, whose remarkably complex eyes allow them to perceive worlds invisible to us. Even more exciting, we can fit this capability into the palm of your hand, unlocking countless possibilities.”
Bo Dong, Founder and CEO, Cephia
“We see great market potential for Cephia technology that will redefine metasurface-based multimodal vision systems, and we are pleased to announce our lead in Cephia’s seed round. With our investment Cephia gets access to and can deeply engage with the portfolio companies of Radiant Opto-Electronics Corporation.”
Justin Wang, President, Radiant Opto-Electronics Corporation
“Multimodal sensing is being redefined with Cephia’s proprietary hardware-software co-design approach. Their multimodal sensing solution is unlocking new use cases across massive markets, such as automotive, manufacturing and consumer electronics. We are thrilled to support their mission to meet the growing global demand for this technology and are encouraged by the significant early traction with pilots and active partnerships.”
Aleksej Mitrjaschkin, Partner, Incharge Capital Partners
