Sesame, the conversational AI and smart glasses startup led by Brendan Iribe, co-founder and former CEO of Oculus, and Ankit Kumar, former CTO of Ubiquity6, has secured $250 million in Series B funding. The round included Sequoia, Spark, and other investors.
The company is developing a personal AI agent capable of natural, emotionally expressive dialogue, powered by speech generation technology that creates humanlike rhythm and tone. This AI will be integrated into lightweight, fashion-forward eyewear designed for all-day use, offering voice interaction and “high-quality audio” that allows the companion to “observe the world alongside you.”
Sesame first drew attention in February when its AI voices “Maya” and “Miles” reached over a million users and generated more than 5 million minutes of conversation.
Alongside the funding, Iribe announced an early beta of the Sesame iOS app, inviting select testers to try the platform’s AI capabilities for “search, text, and think” functions ahead of the smart glasses launch.
The company’s leadership also includes Nate Mitchell, Hans Hartmann, Ryan Brown, and Angela Gayles, all veterans of Oculus, Fitbit, and Meta.
Featured image: Credit: Sesame
