Artificial intelligence imaging technology company Glass Imaging has announced the completion of a $20 million Series A funding round, led by global software investment firm Insight Partners, with existing shareholders GV (Google Ventures), Future Ventures, and Abstract Ventures doubling down. This round of financing will be used to accelerate the development of GlassAI technology and expand its applications on platforms such as smartphones, drones, wearable devices, and more.
Headquartered in Los Altos, California, Glass Imaging is committed to solving lens aberrations, sensor defects, and optical blur through artificial intelligence technology to significantly enhance image quality. Its core product, GlassAI, can improve camera imaging performance by ten times, achieving clearer and more realistic image presentations.
Phone16Pro (left) vs. GlassAI on Snapdragon. Image source: Glass Imaging
"We are reimagining the entire imaging process, allowing AI networks to handle all the work traditionally done by the ISP (image signal processing) pipeline, including sharpening, HDR, noise reduction, color correction, and more," said CEO Ziv Attar. "With fewer steps and resources, we deliver higher-quality images without relying on traditional processing paths."
Glass Imaging collaborates with hardware manufacturers to integrate GlassAI into existing platforms. Last fall, Qualcomm demonstrated the technology's impressive imaging improvements on Android devices. Moreover, the application potential of this technology is rapidly expanding, from drones and AR glasses to security cameras and movie cameras.
"We have already trained AI networks in the lab to address issues faced by high-precision cameras and achieve extreme detail restoration," added Attar, hinting that products using this technology may be released this year.
Co-founder and CTO Tom Bishop noted that GlassAI uses edge AI processing to transform raw images into high-fidelity visual effects on local devices, surpassing the limits of current image recovery technologies to deliver more realistic and detailed images.
Comparison between flagship Android imaging technology and GlassAI Android.
Praveen Akkiraju, managing director at Insight Partners, stated that Glass Imaging is redefining the capabilities of cameras and imaging devices and will join the company’s board. Meanwhile, Insight’s Jonah Waldman will serve as an observer on the board.
Glass Imaging has previously raised multiple rounds of funding, including a $9.3 million seed round led by GV and an earlier round supported by LDV Capital and GroundUP Ventures. The company currently employs 16 people, some of whom come from Apple. Attar emphasized that Glass Imaging’s achievements rival those of Apple’s thousands of engineers.
Erik Nordlander, partner at GV, said: "In this era where everyone is a photographer, Glass Imaging bridges the gap between amateur users and professional creators, expanding the endless possibilities of the imaging field."