Mojo Vision has raised $45 million to tailor its augmented reality contact lenses to work with sports and fitness apps.

Saratoga, California-based Mojo Vision bills itself as the Invisible Computing Company. It is announcing strategic partnerships with sports and fitness brands to collaborate on next-generation user experiences that combine augmented reality, wearable technology, and personal performance data.

The companies will work together using Mojo’s smart contact lens technology, Mojo Lens, to find unique ways to improve data access and improve athlete performance during sports activities.

Additional funding includes investments from Amazon Alexa Fund, PTC, Edge Investments, HiJoJo Partners, and others. Existing investors NEA, Liberty Global Ventures, Advantech Capital, AME Cloud Ventures, Dolby Family Ventures, Motorola Solutions and Open Field Capital have also participated.

Mojo Vision sees an opportunity in the wearable device market to bring real-time performance data and statistics to data-conscious athletes such as runners, cyclists, gym users, golfers and more through the intuitive hands-free user interface and controlled by the eyes of Mojo Lens.

strategic partnerships

Above: Mojo Vision is making augmented reality contact lenses.

Image Credit: Mojo Vision

Mojo Vision is participating in several strategic partnerships with fitness brands to address the unmet performance data needs of athletes and sports enthusiasts. The company’s initial partnerships include Adidas Running (running/training), Trailforks (cycling, hiking/outdoors), Wearable X (yoga), Slopes (snow sports), and 18Birdies (golf).

Through these strategic partnerships and the market expertise the companies provide, Mojo Vision will explore additional smart contact lens interfaces and experiences to understand and improve data delivery for athletes of different levels and abilities.

“We are making significant progress in the development of our smart contact lens technology, and we continue to research and identify potential new markets for this innovative platform,” Steve Sinclair, Mojo Vision’s senior vice president of product and marketing, said in a statement. “Our partnerships with these leading brands will provide us with valuable insights into user behavior in the sports and fitness market. The goal is for these collaborations to give athletes a whole new form factor with performance data that is more accessible and useful. [at] the moment.”

Recent research from International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that global shipments of wearable devices increased 32.3% year-over-year between 2020 and 2021. This significant and sustained growth in the wearable technology market is led by companies that continue to refine and launching fitness trackers, smartwatches, smartphone apps, and other wearables largely aimed at improving the user experience for sports and fitness enthusiasts. However, the new data shows that there may be a gap in the type of data and the accessibility of that data that athletes and fitness enthusiasts want.

In a new survey of more than 1,300 athletes, Mojo Vision found that athletes rely heavily on wearable data and express a need for different ways to deliver the data. The study showed that nearly three in four (74%) people usually or always use a wearable device to track performance data during their training or activity.

However, despite today’s athletes relying on wearable technology, there is a huge appetite for devices that can provide better access to real-time data about their performance – 83% of respondents said they would benefit of the data in real time or at the moment. .

Additionally, half of respondents said that of the three times (before, during, and after their workout) they receive performance data from their devices, at the time or “during the data,” it was the most valuable type.

Backed by years of scientific research and numerous technology patents, Mojo Lens overlays images, symbols, and text onto a user’s natural field of vision without obstructing their view, restricting mobility, or hindering social interactions. Mojo calls this experience Invisible Computing.

In addition to the sports and wearable technology market, Mojo is planning an early application of its product to help people struggling with visual impairment through the use of enhanced image overlays.

Mojo Vision is actively working with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) through its Advanced Devices Program, a voluntary program designed to provide safe and timely access to medical devices that can help treat disease or irreversibly debilitating conditions.

These new investments bring Mojo Vision’s total funding to date to $205 million.