Mojo Vision suspends contact lens production by laying off 75% of its staff

We caught up with Mojo Vision for several CES, watching the startup's AR contact lens development year after year. This stuff takes a lot of time and money, of course - and these days it seems harder and harder to find either. Today, the California-based company announced it was "slowing down" work on the Mojo lens, citing "significant difficulties in raising capital".

In an announcement posted to his site, CEO Drew Perkins blames insurmountable headwinds, including the poor economy and the "unproven market potential for advanced AR products" in his ability to raise the funds needed to sustain the project afloat.

"While we haven't had the chance to see it happen and reach its full market potential yet, we have proven that what was once considered science fiction can become technical reality. “, writes Perkins. "While the pursuit of our invisible computing vision is on hold at this time, we strongly believe there will be a future market for Mojo Lens and we hope to accelerate it when the time comes."

Instead of focusing on Lens, Mojo is focusing its resources on the micro-LED technology that powers it. The company had developed a 14,000 dpi micro-LED display as the basis of the product. "We believe micro-LEDs will disrupt the entire $160 billion display industry, and our unique technology puts us at the forefront of that disruption," Perkins added. /p>

Along with the pivot, the company also made a drastic downsizing, cutting its workforce by 75%. Lays will impact roles and divisions within the startup.

The company's most recent funding round was a $45 million Series B-1 announced a year ago tomorrow. The company declined to comment further.