South Korean startup LetinAR secured $18.5 million in funding from Korea Development Bank, Lotte Ventures and other investors ahead of a planned 2027 initial public offering in South Korea. The company has spent the last decade developing optical technology aimed at making AI-enabled glasses wearable.

LetinAR was founded in 2016 by CEO Jaehyeok Kim and CTO Jeonghun Ha. The company calls its optical technology PinTILT, and its optical modules are already shipping to customers including NTT QONOQ Devices, Dynabook and Aegis Rider. LetinAR is also in discussions with technology companies on research and development of next-generation AI glasses, though it has not publicly named those companies.

"We see AI glasses as that next platform. And the optical module is the hardest part to get right as AI glasses makers will need a lens that is thinner, lighter, and more power-efficient than what exists today." Kim said.

Ha described the limits of competing approaches. "Most existing smart lens technologies, particularly a dominant approach called waveguide, work a bit like that TV, splitting and spreading light across the full lens to create a wide image. The result is a thin lens, but an inefficient one. A lot of light gets thrown away before it ever reaches the eye, which means dimmer images and, critically, a battery that drains fast." he said.

Aegis Rider, a Swiss deeptech company spun out of ETH Zurich's Computer Vision Lab, has integrated LetinAR's optical module into an AI-powered augmented reality helmet. The helmet displays navigation, speed and safety alerts anchored to the road in a motorcycle rider's field of vision. Aegis Rider plans to launch the helmet in the European Union and Swiss markets in 2026.

The funding arrives as the AI eyewear market expands. According to Omdia, global shipments of AI-enabled smart glasses reached 8.7 million units in 2025, a more than 300% increase from 2024, and are projected to exceed 15 million units in 2026.

Meta began selling AI-enabled Ray-Ban glasses in 2023. Google is developing Android XR, Apple is expected to enter the AI glasses market, and LG Electronics has begun developing its own AI smart glasses. Samsung plans to unveil its first AI-capable smart glasses, co-designed with Gentle Monster, at a Galaxy Unpacked event in London in July 2026.