MetaVC Partners, a US-based venture capital firm, has secured $62 million for a fund that will focus on investing in early-stage metamaterials startups. Metamaterials are a type of engineered material that are built from arrays of structures with properties not found in naturally occurring materials, and they are capable of manipulating and controlling energy such as radio waves, light, and sound. These materials have already found commercial applications in areas such as computing, imaging, wireless communications, and sensors, and they are also being researched for use in the next generation of 6G wireless networks.
MetaVC has previously invested in metamaterials startups Lumotive, Imagia, and Neurophos, and the new fund has attracted investments from a range of sources, including Corning, Gates Frontier, JSR, family wealth offices, and institutional pension funds. Neurophos is developing high-performance optical AI processors that are over one hundred times faster and more energy-efficient than today's AI computer processors, while Imagia is using metamaterials to produce flat-optical lens technologies used in consumer electronics products such as AR/VR headsets. Lumotive has developed scanning sensors for anti-collision systems and consumer electronics applications.
The co-founders and managing partners of MetaVC, Chris Alliegro and Conrad Burke, are excited about partnering with founders who are developing disruptive hard-tech product startups that are changing the computing power landscape, embedding smart sensors in anti-collision systems, and improving communication using satellites. Marty Curran, Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer at Corning Incorporated, said that he was delighted to support innovation advancements in the area of metamaterials through their recent venture capital investment, and that Corning's capabilities and precision glass products complemented MetaVC's investment opportunities related to breakthrough products in consumer electronics, 5G communications, automotive, and clean energy. The MetaVC team is on the lookout for the brightest founders to help form the next great companies and products.
