What Myrias Optics does

Myrias Optics is a UMass Amherst spin-out founded in 2021 that commercializes a proprietary all-inorganic nanoimprint lithography (NIL) platform for manufacturing wafer-level metaoptics, including metalenses, AR waveguides, and diffractive optical elements. The technology uses direct nanoimprint lithography of nanoparticle composites (TiO₂, ZrO₂, HfO₂ formulations) to produce thermally stable, high-refractive-index (1.8-2.3+) structures with greater than 95% transparency, claimed to deliver a 10:1 cost advantage over traditional semiconductor photolithography and 2X faster throughput than polymer-based imprinting. Mastering and wafer fabrication are performed on 200mm substrates scalable to 300mm, with the process validated on commercial imprint tools in a tool-agnostic format.

The company sells three core products (metalenses, AR waveguides, and diffractive optics) and complementary services (custom design, manufacturing, characterization, and proprietary nanoimprint materials) to customers in AR/VR, AI datacenters, consumer electronics, automotive LiDAR, defense/aerospace, industrial inspection, and medical imaging. The business model is direct enterprise field sales targeting Tier 1 strategic accounts, complemented by strategic manufacturing and distribution partnerships with Asia Optical (Asian markets) and Pixelligent (high-index nanocomposite supply). Headcount stands at 1-10 today with a planned ramp to 55+ jobs by 2028 at a new Pittsfield, MA manufacturing facility being established with a $5.2M Massachusetts TechHubs grant.

Myrias is pre-revenue with approximately $7.5M in total equity funding across three seed rounds between December 2023 and May 2026, supplemented by a $1.5M NSF STTR award and $5.2M of state grants. The intellectual property position rests on an exclusive license to six foundational UMass patents with priority dates back to 2012 plus five active patent families spanning 16 filings across the US, EP, CN, JP, and KR. The company is positioning to win AR waveguide manufacturing slots during the 2027-2029 architecture lock-in window for major AR OEMs, while diversifying into AI datacenter and consumer electronics optical interconnects.

Name

Myrias Optics

Legal name

Myrias Optics, Inc.

Website

https://myriasoptics.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Myrias Optics is a UMass Amherst spin-out that uses proprietary all-inorganic nanoimprint lithography to manufacture wafer-level metalenses, AR waveguides, and diffractive optics for AR/VR, AI datacenters, and consumer electronics OEMs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wafer-Level Metaoptics Manufacturing

NAICS

Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing (33441)

SIC

Optical Instruments & Lenses (3827)

akta.pro primary industry

Optoelectronic / Photonics Foundries (Silicon Photonics/LED/Laser) (HDAHACAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Optoelectronics & Photonics (LED/Laser/Optical ICs) (HDAHAAAH), Compound Semiconductor Wafers & Substrates (SiC/GaN/GaAs/InP/Sapphire) (HDAHAGAB)

Keywords

• Nanoimprint lithography
• Wafer-level optics
• Metaoptics manufacturing
• AR waveguide optics
• Metalens fabrication

Headquarters

HQ city

Amherst

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Wafer-Level Optics Manufacturing: Manufacturing and sale of wafer-level metaoptics, metalenses, diffractive optics, and AR waveguides. Focus on high-value partnerships with select customers in high-growth industries. Company acts as foundational infrastructure supplier for next-generation optical systems in AR, AI datacenters, consumer electronics, industrial, and medical markets.
2. Nanoimprint Materials: Sale of proprietary imprinting inks and nanoparticle dispersion materials. Materials are at the core of the offering - maintained through exclusive supply agreements and manufacturing in company facilities with highest quality standards.
3. Custom Design and Development Services: Custom optical design, simulation, prototyping, testing, and optimization services tailored to customer needs. End-to-end services spanning R&D, pilot-scale development, custom manufacturing, and expert consultation.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Myrias Optics manufactures wafer-level metaoptics — metalenses, AR waveguides, and diffractive optics — using its proprietary all-inorganic nanoimprint lithography (NIL) platform that combines TiO2, ZrO2, and HfO2 nanoparticle composites with tool-agnostic wafer-level replication. The company also sells proprietary nanoimprint materials and provides custom optical design, prototyping, manufacturing, and characterization services to customers in AR/VR, AI datacenters, consumer electronics, automotive LiDAR, defense and aerospace, and medical imaging.

Product overview

Myrias Optics is a wafer-level metaoptics company offering a unified platform combining all-inorganic nanoimprint lithography (NIL) technology with comprehensive design, manufacturing, and characterization services. The core product portfolio includes Metalenses, AR Waveguides, and Diffractive Optics—each manufactured using the company's proprietary all-inorganic NIL process that delivers thermally stable, high-refractive-index optical components. The platform is complemented by nanoimprint materials (TiO2, ZrO2, HfO2 formulations) and services including custom optical design, manufacturing, and characterization. The company leverages a strategic manufacturing partnership with Pixelligent for high-index nanocomposite materials and works with Asia Optical for product integration.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Metalenses Flat, lightweight all-inorganic printed metalenses that manipulate light with nano-scale surface structures, replacing traditional curved glass lenses for applications in AR/VR, robotics, LiDAR, defense, and consumer electronics.
• AR Waveguides Augmented reality waveguide displays manufactured using all-inorganic nanoimprint lithography with tunable refractive index from 1.8 to 2.3, providing high field of view and numerical aperture for next-generation smart glasses.
• Diffractive Optics Diffractive optical elements manufactured using direct nanoimprint lithography, enabling compact and lightweight optical components for datacom, consumer electronics, and various photonics applications.
• Custom Optical Design Services Custom optical design, simulation, prototyping, testing, and optimization services tailored to customer specifications for metalenses, AR waveguides, and diffractive optics.
• Manufacturing Services Scalable all-inorganic nanoimprint manufacturing with mastering and wafer fabrication on 200mm substrates (scalable to 300mm), with validated production imprinting on commercial tools.
• Characterization Services Advanced metrology and performance characterization including SEM, optical microscopy, automated analysis of fabrication tolerances, prototype bench testing, and high-volume wafer-scale optical inspection.
• Nanoimprint Materials Proprietary all-inorganic imprinting inks using nanoparticle materials (TiO2, ZrO2, HfO2) with tunable optical properties for refractive index, absorption, viscosity, and cure time specifications.

Quantifiable outcome

• Refractive index up to 2.3 with >95% transparency
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Barry SilversteincoreOthers · 5 August 2026Appointed to newly formed Strategic Advisory Board. Former Senior Director and CTO of Optics and Display at Meta Reality Labs. Brings expertise in AR display technology, microLED, LCOS, silicon carbide, laser-scanning displays, waveguide architectures. 100+ US patents.
• David VelasquezcoreOthers · 5 August 2026Appointed to newly formed Strategic Advisory Board. Former Corporate VP and GM of $1.2B Gorilla Glass and AR division and $600M Advanced Optics division at Corning. Brings expertise in capital-intensive technology scaling, portfolio strategy, and customer partnership structuring.
• Electro Magnetic Applications, Inc.minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2026Partner in Berkshire Innovation Center advanced optics tech hub. Provides testing and validation services for optics in simulated space environments. Co-participant in Massachusetts optics ecosystem development.
• Berkshire Innovation CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 November 2025Partnership to establish advanced optics manufacturing facility in Pittsfield, MA. Part of 7,000 sq ft advanced optics tech hub expansion. Supported by $5.2M Massachusetts TechHub Transformation Grant. BIC provides facilities and expansion; Myrias provides proprietary nanoimprint manufacturing technology.
• Pixelligent Technologies LLCcoreTechnology or Integration · 24 October 2025Strategic manufacturing partnership for high refractive index nanocomposites. Pixelligent provides PixClear nanocrystals achieving refractive indices up to 2.3 with >95% transparency. The partnership leverages Pixelligent's ISO-qualified manufacturing process to produce Myrias' metalens formulations. Companies have been collaborating since prior to Myrias' 2023 spinout from UMass.
• University of Massachusetts AmherstcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 October 2025NSF STTR Fast-Track collaboration for polarization-controlled metasurfaces development. Dr. Amir Arbabi, Associate Professor of ECE at UMass Amherst, serving as co-investigator. Myrias is a spinout from the Watkins Research Lab at UMass Amherst with exclusive license to foundational patents.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Metalenz: Metalenz is a direct peer that commercializes metaoptics/metalenses for consumer electronics, automotive, and AR/VR applications. It is a Harvard spin-out targeting the same wafer-level metasurface market with competing semiconductor-fab-based processes and direct customer engagements with smartphone and AR OEMs.
• NIL Technology (NILT): NILT is a direct peer in nanoimprint lithography for optical components including diffractive optics, metalenses, and AR waveguide masters. It serves the same AR/VR, automotive, and consumer electronics customers with competing NIL-based metaoptic solutions and shares key tool-platform dependencies.
• Lumus: Lumus is a direct peer developing reflective waveguide technology for AR smart glasses, with established design engagements at multiple Tier 1 consumer OEMs and defense customers. Both companies are pursuing AR waveguide design-ins for the same 2027-2029 architecture window through different optical approaches.
• WaveOptics (Snap Inc.): WaveOptics (acquired by Snap in 2021) is a direct peer in diffractive AR waveguides, supplying Snap's Spectacles and engaging other AR OEMs. It competes with Myrias in the AR waveguide design-in cycle through a polymer-based rather than all-inorganic optical stack.
• Magic Leap: Magic Leap is a direct peer in AR optics and waveguide manufacturing for AR headsets, with in-house optical design and manufacturing capabilities. Both target enterprise and consumer AR OEMs with competing waveguide-based display architectures.
• Holo/Or: Holo/Or is a direct peer in diffractive optical elements and metaoptics, supplying laser material processing, biomedical, and AR/VR customers with micro-scale diffractive components. It competes for similar industrial and consumer electronics design wins in beam shaping and sensing.

Emerging players

• EV Group (EVG): EVG is an emerging player in the NIL equipment ecosystem that Myrias' tool-agnostic platform depends on for production imprinting. While primarily an equipment vendor, EVG increasingly engages in NIL process development and optics partnerships that intersect with Myrias' wafer-level manufacturing approach.

Broad incumbents

• Applied Materials: Applied Materials is a broad incumbent in semiconductor manufacturing equipment with growing investment in NIL tools and AR/optics manufacturing partnerships. As a potential acquirer or strategic partner with NIL tool capability, it competes indirectly with Myrias' tool-agnostic platform strategy.
• Corning Incorporated: Corning is a broad incumbent in specialty glass and advanced optics with a dedicated AR division and Gorilla Glass franchise serving the same Tier 1 AR OEMs. Strategic Advisory Board member David Velasquez formerly led Corning's $1.2B Gorilla Glass/AR division, illustrating the strategic overlap.
• Jenoptik: Jenoptik is a broad incumbent in optical components, laser systems, and semiconductor equipment with established photonics manufacturing capabilities serving automotive, defense, and industrial customers. It competes indirectly with Myrias in wafer-level optics and custom optical design services for AR, datacom, and industrial sensing.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors11 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Myrias Optics