Sesame, an innovative conversational AI startup specializing in smart glasses, has successfully secured $250 million in a Series B funding round. The company also announced the launch of its beta program for a select group of testers on Tuesday.
Led by Brendan Iribe, the former co-founder and CEO of Oculus, alongside Ankit Kumar, the ex-CTO of Ubiquity6, Sesame is on a mission to develop a personal AI agent capable of engaging users with a realistic, human-like voice. This AI will be integrated into lightweight eyewear designed for all-day wear, allowing users to interact seamlessly through voice commands.
The startup first emerged from stealth mode in February, showcasing its two AI voice demo models, “Maya” and “Miles.” Within weeks, over a million users interacted with these voices, cumulatively generating upwards of five million minutes of conversation, as highlighted in a recent blog post by Sesame investor Sequoia, outlining their involvement in the Series B funding.
According to the Sequoia post, “the experience was unlike anything we’d used before. Sesame’s conversational layer felt unique. It doesn’t merely convert LLM output to audio; it generates speech directly, encapsulating the rhythm, emotion, and expressiveness characteristic of genuine dialogue.”
Early reviews from tech demos are notably positive, with The Verge characterizing Sesame’s offerings as “genuinely fun” and “natural-sounding.”
Sesame promises that its forthcoming glasses will deliver “high-quality audio” alongside an AI companion that will “observe the world alongside you.”
Sequoia emphasized that the smart glasses being developed by Sesame will not only be technologically advanced but also stylish, presenting an aesthetic that users would choose to wear irrespective of the integrated AI capabilities. No specific timeline for release has been provided; as Sequoia noted, “hardware development requires time.”
Sesame stands to benefit from a strong founding team that includes Oculus co-founder Nate Mitchell as Chief Product Officer, former Oculus COO and ex-Fitbit executive Hans Hartmann serving as COO, along with former Oculus engineering manager and Reality Labs director Ryan Brown, and seasoned Facebook and Meta executive Angela Gayles.
In addition to announcing the successful Series B funding, Iribe shared on X that Sesame is now launching an early beta version of its iOS application. This app will grant testers the opportunity to explore the cutting-edge AI technology, with features designed to “search, text, and think,” as Iribe describes it.
Beta testers are advised to maintain confidentiality regarding their experiences, which includes refraining from discussing features or results outside the official beta testing forums, detailed in the beta testing agreement.
Investors participating in Sesame’s Series B funding include not only Sequoia but also Spark and several undisclosed investors, as noted by Iribe.
