Mojo Vision puts contact lens production ‘on hold’ as it lays off 75% of staff

 We have observed the development of Mojo Vision's augmented reality contact lenses year after year during several CESes. Of course, doing these kinds of things takes a lot of time and money, and they seem to be getting harder to find these days. The California-based company said today that work on the Mojo Lens is "decreasing," citing "significant challenges in raising capital."

CEO Drew Perkins blames insurmountable obstacles, such as the bad economy and the "yet-to-be proven market potential for advanced AR products," for the company's inability to raise the funds necessary to keep the project going.

Perkins writes, "We have proven that what was once considered science fiction can be developed into a technical reality, even though we haven't had the chance yet to see it ship and reach its full potential in the marketplace." We strongly believe that there will be a future market for Mojo Lens and anticipate accelerating it when the time is right, despite the fact that the pursuit of our vision for Invisible Computing is on hold for the time being.

Mojo is focusing its resources on the micro-LED technology that powers Lens rather than Lens itself. The product's foundation was a 14,000 ppi micro-LED display developed by the company. Perkins continues, "We are at the forefront of this disruption because we believe micro-LED will disrupt the entire $160 billion display industry."

In addition to the pivot, the company has drastically reduced its workforce, cutting 75%. The layoffs will have an effect on the startup's divisions and roles.

The most recent funding round for the business was a $45 million Series B-1, which was announced one year ago today. The business declined to comment further.

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