Myrias Optics has closed a $2.1 million Seed 1 financing round to accelerate the commercialization of its wafer-level metaoptics and diffractive optical technologies. The round, completed in January 2026, 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.
The financing builds on the company’s previously announced $3.3 million seed round completed in December 2023 and complements a $1.5 million National Science Foundation Direct-to-Phase II award. With $6.9 million secured to date, Myrias Optics is advancing commercialization of its proprietary all-inorganic additive nanoimprint platform while expanding production capacity to meet growing customer demand.
The company serves customers across augmented reality, AI data centers, consumer electronics, industrial, and medical markets. These applications require durable, high-performance optical components manufactured with precision, repeatability, and cost efficiency. System designers in these sectors often face bottlenecks in producing advanced optical components that combine high optical performance, environmental stability, and scalable manufacturing economics.
Myrias addresses these challenges 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, the company’s 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 also extend across consumer, industrial, and medical imaging platforms.
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 working 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.
KEY QUOTES
“This round reflects validation of both our technology and our execution roadmap. 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.”
John Fijol, CEO of Myrias Optics
“Traditional polymer-based optical manufacturing presents limitations in durability, thermal stability, and long-term reliability. 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.”
Jim Watkins, Founder of Myrias Optics and Professor of Polymer Science and Engineering at University of Massachusetts Amherst
“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.”
Myron Kassaraba, Vice President at MassVentures
