LetinAR Closes $18.5M Round to Scale Optics for AI Glasses

SEOUL — South Korean optical components maker LetinAR said it has raised $18.5 million in a new funding round backed by Korea Development Bank and Lotte Ventures. The LG Electronics-affiliated startup said the proceeds will fund production capacity ahead of a planned 2027 listing in South Korea.

Per the company, total capital raised since its 2016 founding now stands at $41.7 million. CEO Jaehyeok Kim said the cash will be directed at expanding manufacturing as the AI smart-glasses category moves out of its early-adopter phase.

LetinAR does not assemble finished glasses. It supplies the optical module — the lens element that projects digital imagery into the wearer's line of sight. The component is regarded as the hardest part of the device to engineer, requiring a thin, lightweight design that runs on minimal power while producing a clear image.

Market data cited by the company points to fast growth. Research firm Omdia put global AI smart-glasses shipments at 8.7 million units in 2025, a gain of more than 300% year-on-year. Omdia projects shipments will top 15 million units in 2026.

Meta, Google, Samsung and Apple are all spending on the segment, the company said, adding to demand for high-performance optical parts.

LetinAR's core technology is branded PinTILT. The system embeds angled microscopic optical elements inside the lens to direct light into the eye. The company said the approach uses less power than the waveguide method, which loses brightness as light spreads across the lens, and is thinner than mirror-based birdbath optics, which the firm said are too bulky for standard eyewear frames.

Modules are already in customer hands. Swiss firm Aegis Rider, an ETH Zurich spinout, is using LetinAR optics in an AR motorcycle helmet that overlays navigation, speed and safety alerts onto the rider's view. The helmet is targeted at European markets in 2026.

Other named customers include Japan's NTT QONOQ Devices and Dynabook, the former Toshiba Client Solutions unit. The company said it is in talks with additional major technology firms on next-generation AI glasses but declined to identify them.

Competitors in the optical-module space include WaveOptics, DigiLens and Lumus, the company noted. LetinAR cited its LG Electronics backing as a source of both capital and industry credibility, with LG reportedly developing its own AI glasses.

What it means: The round positions LetinAR to ride a shipment curve that more than tripled in 2025 and is forecast to nearly double again in 2026. With four of the largest consumer-tech firms chasing the category, suppliers that solve the brightness-versus-battery trade-off stand to capture the bulk of new design wins ahead of the planned 2027 IPO.