Sesame, a conversational AI startup and smart glasses maker, has raised a $250 million Series B round and is opening up its beta to a select group of testers, the company announced Tuesday.
The startup, headed by former Oculus co-founder and CEOBrendan IribeandAnkit Kumar, former CTO ofAR startup Ubiquity6, is working to create a personal AI agent that interacts with users using a natural-sounding human voice. The company plans to embed the personal AI agent into lightweight eyewear that is designed to be worn throughout the day and which users can interact with via voice.
The startup firstemerged from stealthin February, when it offered two demos of its technology — AI voices named “Maya” and “Miles.” The voices were soon accessed by more than a million people within the first few weeks, who generated more than five million minutes of conversation, according to a newpostby Sesame investor Sequoia about its participation in the startup’s Series B.
“…the experience was unlike anything we’d used before. Sesame’s conversational layer felt different,” the post states. “It doesn’t just translate LLM output into audio—it generates speech directly, capturing the rhythm, emotion, and expressiveness of real dialogue.”
Early reviews of the tech demo seem to agree, as one report byThe Vergedescribed Sesame as “genuinely fun” and “natural-sounding.”
Sesame says its upcoming glasses will offer “high-quality audio” and access to an AI companion that will “observe the world alongside you.”
Sequoia also noted the smartglasses Sesame is building will be fashion forward, so they look like something you’d choose to wear even if they didn’t offer built-in AI technology. A timeframe for their availability is not yet being shared; as Sequoia noted, “hardware takes time.”
On that front, Sesame may have an advantage. Its founding team also includes Oculus co-founderNate Mitchellas its Chief Product Officer, former Oculus COO and Fitbit execHans Hartmannas COO, as well as former Oculus engineer manager and Reality Labs engineering directorRyan Brown,and longtime Facebook and Meta execAngela Gayles.
In addition to sharing the news of its Series B, Iribeannouncedon X that Sesame is now opening an early beta of the Sesame iOS app. The app experience will allow testers to get hands-on with the AI technology being built, as the app will have the ability to “search, text and think,” he says.
Beta testers are asked to keep their testing experiencesconfidentialfor the time being, which includes not discussing features or results beyond the official beta test forums.
Investors in the Sesame Series B include Sequoia, Spark, and other undisclosed names,accordingto Iribe.
Source: Techcrunch
