Cephia Secures $4M Seed Funding to Revolutionize Multimodal Sensing with Metasurface Technology

Princeton University Spinout Led By World-Class Innovators in Computational Imaging

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Oct. 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Cephia, a startup building products using advanced AI computational imaging technologies and silicon sensors made from advanced metamaterials, formally launched today with several pilot customers and $4 million in seed venture capital funding. Led by Radiant Opto-Electronics Corporation (ROE) and co-led by Incharge Capital, with participation from MetaVC Partners, NRM Partners and SOSV, the funding will accelerate product development, hiring and sales growth.

Cephia sits at the forefront of machine vision, robotics, and edge AI—addressing a vast and rapidly expanding physical AGI market that spans numerous industry verticals. Building on computational imaging software and hardware developed over the past decade at Princeton University the company will introduce a range of superhuman vision sensor products built from biological concepts that are capable of detecting what traditional sensors and the human eye cannot. The sensing technology developed by Cephia uses novel silicon metamaterials that can bend optical signals in unusual ways, allowing for unique sensing functions that are difficult to achieve with current technologies today.

"This funding marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of multimodal sensing," said Bo Dong, Founder and CEO of Cephia. "Our metamaterials-based technology is inspired by nature — drawing from creatures like mantis shrimp, dragonflies, and cephalopods, whose remarkably complex eyes allow them to perceive worlds invisible to us. Even more exciting, we can fit this capability into the palm of your hand, unlocking countless possibilities." Cephia is engaging with partners and customers across industries, including consumer electronics, manufacturing, and precision agriculture.

Cephia's founders are pioneers and engineers who have worked closely as researchers at Princeton University's Computational Imaging Lab and further established themselves in major roles in industry. They include:

• Bo Dong, Founder & CEO – former computer vision lead at Disney Research Imagineering who also worked as a senior computer vision researcher at SRI and computer vision lead at ESPN advanced technology group;
• Ethan Tseng, Founder & CTO – a recent Ph.D. graduate from Princeton University who developed the world's first full color metasurface cameras; also conducted research at Carnegie Mellon University and Adobe;
• Felix Heide, Founder – Professor at Princeton University; Head of AI at Torc Robotics, formerly Co-Founder and CTO at Algolux (acquired by Torc Robotics, an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck).

"We see great market potential for Cephia technology that will redefine metasurface-based multimodal vision systems, and we are pleased to announce our lead in Cephia's seed round," said Justin Wang, President, Radiant Opto-Electronics Corporation. "With our investment Cephia gets access to and can deeply engage with the portfolio companies of Radiant Opto-Electronics Corporation." Theodor Nielsen, founder and CEO of NIL Technology, will serve as ROE's representative on the board of Cephia.

"Multimodal sensing is being redefined with Cephia's proprietary hardware-software co-design approach," said Aleksej Mitrjaschkin, Partner at Incharge Capital Partners. "Their multimodal sensing solution is unlocking new use cases across massive markets, such as automotive, manufacturing and consumer electronics. We are thrilled to support their mission to meet the growing global demand for this technology and are encouraged by the significant early traction with pilots and active partnerships."

About Radiant Opto-Electronics Corporation
Radiant Opto-Electronics Corporation, founded in 1995, is a global leader in the design, manufacturing, assembly, and sales of backlight modules and display technologies. With a commitment to innovation and quality, ROE serves a diverse clientele, including major technology firms worldwide. Read more about ROE here: www.radiant.com.tw.

About Incharge Capital Partners
Incharge is an early-stage investor backing deeptech founders rethinking how people, goods, and industries move. Incharge invests in defensible technologies that will define how trillion-dollar markets evolve over the coming decades.

Incharge is backed by Porsche SE and Deutsche Telekom, giving our founders access to industrial networks, technical expertise, and partnerships that turn technology into impact. Learn more: www.inchargecapital.com

About MetaVC Partners
MetaVC Partners is an early-stage venture fund investing in new startup companies using metamaterials for applications in renewable energy, high-performance computing, imaging, and next-generation wireless communications and sensors. More information can be found on MetaVC Partners' website.

About NRM Partners
NRM Partners is a Munich based boutique law firm focusing on Corporate, Litigation and Tax. For more information, visit NRM-Partners.com.

About SOSV
SOSV is a multi-stage venture investor focused on "human and planetary health" that aims to be the First Check in Deep Tech. It operates the startup development programs IndieBio, with facilities in New York City and San Francisco, and HAX, which is headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, with a satellite office in Tokyo. The SOSV ecosystem spans the globe, with 800+ startups operating in 40 countries. SOSV is the most active deep tech venture investor, ranking highly on the leaderboards for climate and health categories. For more information, visit sosv.com.

About Cephia
Cephia is pioneering a new era for multimodal sensing. It is building all-in-one sensing solutions that could enable the next generation of physical artificial general intelligence. Cephia is backed by Radiant Opto-Electronics Corporation, Incharge Capital, MetaVC Partners, SOSV, NRM Partners and others. For more information, please visit www.cephia.ai.

Media Contact:
Tim Turpin
[email protected]

SOURCE Cephia AI Inc.