Eyeo, a spinoff of imec, has raised €15 million ($16.9 million) in seed funding to bring its light-splitting technology to market. The funding will support the development of an evaluation kit, prepare for scale manufacturing of a first sensor product, and expand partnerships to support the technology’s commercialization. The round was co-led by imec.xpand and Invest-NL, and joined by QBIC fund, High-Tech Gründerfonds and Brabant Development Agency. For more than 50 years, according to eyeo, image sensors have filtered light through red, green, and blue masks, blocking and wasting 70% of it. Eyeo's novel image sensor architecture eliminates the need for traditional color filters, making it possible to maximize sensitivity without increasing sensor size. Using vertical waveguide-based technology that splits light into colors, the company's sensors efficiently capture and utilize all incoming light, tripling sensitivity compared to existing technologies. This is particularly valuable in low-light environments, where current sensors struggle to gather enough light for clear, reliable imaging, according to the company. A 3D rendering of eyeo’s waveguide structure which separates and guides individual photons to the proper pixels. The technology enables far greater light sensitivity and color fidelity compared to traditional camera sensors technologies, according to the company. Courtesy of imec. Additionally, unlike traditional filters that block certain colors (information that is then interpolated through software processing), eyeo’s waveguide technology allows pixels to receive complete color data. This approach doubles resolution, delivering sharper, more detailed images for applications that demand precision, such as computational photography, machine vision, and spatial computing. Because the method preserves each photon and separates colors naturally — by manipulating light rather than blocking it — the method is able to achieve maximum light sensitivity, true-to-life color fidelity, and ultra-high resolution through photon compression. The technology has further application in consumer, industrial, extended reality, and security applications by drastically increasing the light sensitivity of image sensors. According to imec, eyeo has already established partnerships with leading image sensor manufacturers and foundries to ensure the successful commercialization of its technology. The funding will be used to improve its current camera sensor designs further, optimizing the waveguide technology for production scalability and accelerating the development of prototypes for evaluation. The first evaluation kits are expected to be available for selected customers within the next two years.