Villeurbanne-based Laclarée, a French company developing adaptive eyeglasses for presbyopia correction, has secured €3.5M in equity Seed round funding.
The investment came from vision-care investor Rimonci Capital, along with existing investors UI-Investissement, High-Tech GründerFonds (HTGF), and business angels.
Richel LIU, founder and manager of Rimonci Capital, says, “We are thrilled to support Laclarée in bringing its breakthrough technology to new markets, setting a new standard for presbyopia correction worldwide. This investment aligns with Rimonci’s mission to back transformative technologies in vision care that address unmet medical needs for better vision and insight.”
This funding, along with a €2.5M grant from the EIC Accelerator, brings the French company’s total financing to €6M.
Capital utilisation
The proceeds will support the development of Laclarée’s first commercial product, expected by mid-2026.
Bruno Berge, CEO and founder of Laclarée, says, “We are happy that Rimonci joins our current investors UI-Investissement and HTGF, confirming our global approach to the market.”
“In the past years, the Laclarée team has worked hard to seek the wearers’ feedback and expectations, and the result has turned positive: many presbyopes want to wear Laclarée eyeglasses as their visual correction mean.”
“This Seed round will be key for Laclarée to offer these customers the first commercial autofocussing eyeglass pair.”
Adaptive eyeglasses for presbyopia
Founded in 2016 by physicist and entrepreneur Bruno Berge, Laclarée brings together expertise in optics, electronics, materials, and microfluidics.
The company is developing a technology that mimics the eye’s natural ability to autofocus, offering a new approach to correcting presbyopia—a condition that affects 2 billion people worldwide after age 45.
Presbyopia makes it difficult to focus on close objects, impacting daily activities like reading or using digital devices. Current solutions, including progressive lenses, come with limitations and can cause discomfort, such as visual fatigue, headaches, and posture-related issues.
Laclarée is developing autofocusing eyeglasses for presbyopia using its patented opto-fluidic technology. These eyeglasses feature variable focus lenses, actuating units in the temples, and distance sensors, allowing real-time adaptation to the user’s viewing distance.
The company’s lenses also incorporate corrections for hyperopia, astigmatism, and myopia based on the user’s prescription.
Laclarée claims to have conducted extensive wearer tests, demonstrating the benefits of its autofocusing eyeglasses and their ability to restore natural focusing. Its innovation provides a seamless vision, addressing the limitations of traditional solutions with a discreet and adaptive approach.
Brief about the investors
Rimonci Capital is a VC fund established in 2016. It specialises in vision care, with a focus on ophthalmology and optometry. The fund is committed to supporting transformative innovations aimed at improving vision and insight.
UI Investissement is an independent management company specialising in the growth of unlisted French companies. Managing around €1.5B in assets, it invests in over 300 companies across healthcare, agri-business, services, and industry.
Its innovation capital funds support high-potential tech and healthcare projects, while expansion and buyout capital represents more than half of its portfolio. UI also backs local economic initiatives and operates from over 10 regional offices, alongside its Paris headquarters.
High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) is an early-stage investor in Germany and Europe, financing startups in deep tech, industrial tech, climate tech, digital tech, life sciences, and chemistry. With over €2B under management, HTGF invests from pre-seed to later-stage rounds, supporting startups in their growth into international market leaders.
Since 2005, it has funded over 770 startups and achieved more than 190 exits. HTGF operates as a public-private partnership, backed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, KfW Capital, and 45 companies and family offices.
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