The newest deal comes from .lumen based in Romania.
👯 Founder(s): Cornel Amariei (inspired by his family’s experiences with disabilities, he founded .lumen to leverage technology for transformative impact)
📅 Founding year: 2020
🏭 Industry: Health, Assistive Technology
💥 Problem: Limited mobility and navigation options for blind and visually impaired individuals.
📣 Solution: Development of AI-powered Glasses for the Blind, utilizing Pedestrian Autonomous Driving (PAD AI) technology to replicate guide dog functionalities.
👥 Customers: Blind and visually impaired individuals seeking enhanced mobility and independence.
🎳 Team size: 50 members, including engineers, professors, disability experts, designers, and scientists.
🌱 Stage: Early VC
💰 Investment amount: €5 million
🚀 Funded by:
- Catalyst Romania
- European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund
- Tigrim Capital
- SeedBlink (raised €1 million through a crowdfunding campaign in 7 hours)
Investor’s perspective: “The unique form of EIC funding – combining grants and venture capital – is proving extremely attractive to the most promising European startups. We are delighted with the EIC Fund’s investment in .lumen, an innovative company pushing the boundaries of Pedestrian Autonomous Driving technology. We believe in the great potential of this technology and look forward to supporting their growth and development.” – Svetoslava Georgieva, President of the Board of the European Innovation Fund (EIC Fund)
💡 It will be spent on… bringing Glasses for the Blind to market and advancing Pedestrian Autonomous Driving (PAD AI ) technology.
In their own words: “This investment round brings a lot of know-how to the company, from experienced investors, who can support us in the next stage of growth. Just a few years ago, we started this company with the goal of helping people. Now, Catalyst Romania and EIC Fund, along with other important investors, join our vision. We are also very proud to maintain this company as a product of Romanian and European innovation, and the selection of investors confirms just that.” – Cornel Amariei, Founder & CEO .lumen
💪 Their specialty: .lumen’s Glasses for the Blind employ PAD AI technology to emulate guide dog functionalities, providing users with enhanced mobility and independence. The technology has been tested by over 300 blind individuals from nearly 30 countries, demonstrating its efficacy and global applicability.
🔑 Business model: Sales of the .lumen Glasses to end-users, with potential expansions into other applications of PAD AI technology.
👩🏫 Market: Focused on visually impaired individuals but with potential expansion to pedestrian urban navigation and robotics markets globally.
📈 Funding so far: ~13M EUR including grants & Equity Investments
