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09 Sep 2025
Californian startup is developing a full-size GaN-on-silicon wafer platform for microLED fabrication.
Mojo Vision, the Silicon Valley startup working to develop a novel approach to microLED fabrication suitable for mass production, says it has raised $75 million in a new round of venture funding.
The Cupertino, California, company, which at this year’s SPIE AR/VR/MR event reported its development of tiny microdisplays made on 300 mm-diameter GaN-on-silicon wafers, says that the additional cash will help it commercialize microLEDs for augmented reality (AR) glasses and other AI-related applications.
The series B "prime" round comes two years after Mojo raised nearly $44 million in its series A offer, with the latest effort led by new investor Vanedge Capital.
Existing shareholders including Edge Venture Capital, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Fusion Fund, Knollwood Capital, Dolby Family Ventures, and Khosla Ventures also supported the series B round, alongside new backers including imec.xpand, Keymaker, Ohio Innovation Fund, and Hyperlink Ventures.
Mojo’s CEO Nikhil Balram commented: “This oversubscribed funding round and strong industry support mark a new phase in the design and production of our next-generation microLED platform. The company is on an accelerated path to commercialize microLED applications that can power AI.”
Trade-offs ‘resolved’
Having initially focused on microLED-based AR contact lenses, in early 2023 Mojo pivoted towards microLED development using a technology combining GaN-on-silicon emitters, quantum dots to down-convert blue light to green and red, and microlens arrays.
Although prospects for microLEDs were dented by last year’s decision by Apple not to use the technology in the latest version of its smart watch displays, Mojo said in January that it was hoping to launch three general-purpose products in late 2025, along with two custom designs.
The idea is to revolutionize what Mojo refers to as “AI-powered glasses” by producing high-resolution microdisplays offering high brightness, high energy efficiency, and a tiny form factor - something that no other display technology can currently achieve.
The approach is said to resolve the conventional trade-offs between display size, brightness, bandwidth density, and power consumption. Other non-display applications could include optical interconnects for AI data centers.
Moe Kermani, managing partner at Vanedge Capital managing partner and now a Mojo Vision board member, said: “Mojo Vision has consistently shown over time how it can push the boundaries of what is possible in the development of microLEDs.
“Mojo’s microLED platform has the power to transform the performance of AI infrastructure and reach of AI applications.”
Disruptive technology
Achin Bhowmik, another Mojo board member who is also VP of engineering at Starkey and previously VP and general manager of perceptual computing at Intel, added:
“The future of microLEDs is reaching an inflection point, where applications are approaching commercial viability thanks to Mojo’s technological advances.
“Nikhil and his team have proven that they can take on big technology challenges with semiconductor solutions that will move the industry forward. MicroLEDs are a once-in-a-generation disruptive semiconductor technology, and its expanded development into new, large markets will widen the scope of possibility for this revolutionary technology, including enabling next-generation AI applications.”
Other microLED proponents include UK-based Plessey Semiconductors - which recently revealed new investment and plans to expand production in a tie-up with China’s Goertek - as well as Taiwan’s PlayNitride and the University of Cambridge spin-out Porotech, among others.
Porotech has previously collaborated with the specialist compound semiconductor epiwafer foundry IQE, as part of the wider effort to scale up micro-LED production to industrial quantities.
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