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29 Apr 2025
Belgian startup is developing an intelligent vision platform that combines contact lenses with adaptive optics and sensors.
Azalea Vision, a spin-out from imec and Ghent University in Belgium, says it has raised €9 million in a first tranche of funding aimed at further developing what it calls an “intelligent connected vision platform”.
The firm, which is hoping to raise a further €6 million in its series A effort, wants to integrate adaptive optics and advanced sensing technology within contact lenses, making it possible to combine vision correction with communication to smart phones or watches.
The financial backing comes a few months after Azalea completed the first on-eye test of its “ALMA” lens, which was worn by company CTO and co-founder Andrés Vásquez Quintero (see video below).
ALMA is designed to offer a non-surgical solution for patients suffering from keratoconus (thinning of the cornea), other corneal irregularities, photophobia, and presbyopia (age-related long-sightedness).
The design includes an embedded diaphragm whose aperture can be modulated to filter the amount of light which enters the eye.
According to earlier work published by the imec-Ghent team in 2020, the lens features a guest-host liquid crystal display architecture that actively modifies both the transmittance of the contact lens and the effective pupil size - leading to both light adaptation and expanded depth-of-focus capabilities.
Last month Azalea revealed that it had won a European Innovation Council (EIC) grant worth €2.5 million that would see the firm collaborate with researchers in Spain to integrate graphene-based electrodes within the smart lens.
First-in-human trial
Enrique Vega, Azalea’s CEO, said of the new funding: “Strong participation from repeat investors in this series A milestone reaffirms their trust in our medical device and innovation for the future of intelligent ocular health.”
He noted that prior investors SPRIM Global Investments and Afrimobility had provided more support, alongside an undisclosed “strategic investor”.
Azalea has also appointed veteran ophthalmology executive Robert J. Dempsey as its chairman, with Vega remarking on the deep sector expertise and strong industry relationships that Dempsey will bring to the firm.
The startup will be using its new funding to support the execution of a so-called “first-in-human” pilot clinical trial, a key milestone required to establish the safety and performance of the smart lenses.
“The goal is to receive Investigational Device Exemption approval from the US Food and Drug Administration, continue the clinical trials, and further advance commercialization efforts,” announced Azalea.
“Led by a multidisciplinary team with deep expertise in microelectronics, biomedical optics, and medical device innovation, Azalea Vision brings together decades of research and industrial development,” it added.
“The company’s platform integrates stretchable electronics, custom-designed ASICs, liquid crystal optics, and NFC communication, all engineered into a lens-embedded system.
“This foundation enables Azalea to deliver medical-grade smart lenses that sense, adapt, and connect in real time - scaling from vision correction to biosensing, diagnostics, and beyond.”
Azalea’s scientific advisory board includes Susana Marcos, director of the Center for Visual Science at the University of Rochester in New York, as well as a professor of ophthalmology at the Flaum Eye Institute and the Nicholas Professor of Optics at the same institute.
Azalea video showing the first on-eye demonstration of the company's smart contact lenses:
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