eyeo raises €40 million to bring nanophotonic color-splitting sensors to market

eyeo, a Dutch deep-tech company, announced today that it has raised €40 million in Series A funding, bringing its total funding to €55 million. The round was led by Innovation Industries, with participation from existing investors including imec.xpand, Invest-NL Deep Tech Fund, QBIC fund, High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and Brabant Development Agency (BOM). The investment will accelerate the commercialization of eyeo's nanophotonic color-splitting technology, which the company claims can overcome a fundamental limitation that has left every camera sensor approximately 70% blind.

The core innovation lies in eyeo's approach to capturing light. Traditional image sensors use color filter arrays that absorb roughly two-thirds of incoming light, discarding the majority of photons before they ever reach the sensor. eyeo's technology, based on seven years of nanophotonic research, uses a patented structure to guide photons directly to the appropriate pixels without filtering. This enables the sensor to capture all incoming light, tripling the light sensitivity compared to conventional designs. The result is significantly improved performance in low-light conditions, higher dynamic range, and native color fidelity without the need for computational demosaicing.

According to eyeo, the technology is compatible with any standard CMOS sensor platform and can support sub-0.5-micron pixels, making it suitable for ultra-compact imaging applications where image quality is critical. The company targets a wide range of markets, including smartphones, extended reality (XR) devices, smart city infrastructure, and other imaging applications within the $30 billion imaging market. The funding will be used to scale production and bring the first generation of eyeo-enabled sensors to market.

“We are thrilled to have the support of Innovation Industries and our existing investors as we move from R&D to volume production,” said a spokesperson for eyeo. “Our technology has the potential to fundamentally change how cameras capture light, enabling devices to see clearly in conditions where current sensors struggle.” The company is headquartered at High Tech Campus Eindhoven in the Netherlands, with a sensor design center in Antwerp, Belgium.