Azalea Vision
Belgian healthtech company (Ghent) building the first medical-grade smart contact lens (“ALMA” platform); spin-off from imec and Ghent University (2021).
Overview
Azalea Vision’s lens integrates adaptive optics, custom microelectronics, liquid-crystal technology and NFC connectivity — an “adaptive, intelligent, connected” medical wearable rather than an implant. The platform adapts to light, focus and movement in real time, engineered for presbyopia, keratoconus, irregular corneas / higher-order aberrations and photophobia, and it is designed to scale into diagnostics, biosensing and ocular drug delivery.1
Not a visual prosthesis: Azalea corrects and adapts optics; it does not stimulate the retina or cortex. It sits in the adjacent “smart contact lens / medical wearable” category often reviewed alongside visual-prosthesis technologies (cf. axorus, a photoacoustic retinal prosthesis company also pursuing a contact-lens form factor).
Key facts and dates
- Founded 2021 as a spin-off from imec and Ghent University.
- Apr 29, 2025: First closing of a €15M Series A — €9M raised; Robert J. Dempsey appointed Chairman of the Board (Business Wire newsroom).
- Jul 1, 2026: Selected for the EIC Accelerator — Belgium’s only company in the round; up to €7.5M blended finance (€2.5M non-dilutive grant + planned €5M EIC Fund equity); fewer than 5% of applicants pass expert/jury review; ranked among highest-scoring applicants in its cohort. Funding moves the platform from technical validation into clinical development.2
- Aug 12, 2026: Co-founder and CTO Andrés Vásquez Quintero appointed CEO (continuing as CTO) — “inventor of the proprietary adaptive-optics platform” (Business Wire newsroom; summary only, not raw-captured).
- Product: ALMA smart contact lens (on-eye evaluation shown in Business Wire photo caption, 1 Jul 2026).
Technology
- Adaptive optics + liquid crystal (tunable lens), custom microelectronics, embedded sensors, NFC antenna → smartphone/smartwatch pairing; gesture-based lens mode switching.
- Roadmap: tear-based biosensing (glaucoma, glucose, dry eye biomarkers), precision ocular drug delivery (glaucoma, ocular inflammation), AR/VR vision enhancement and “advanced neuro-visual feedback” (company claims — not clinically verified).
- Supporters/investors shown on site: Shigeru, Elaia, Imec Xpand, Sensinnovat, imec, Ghent University.
Open questions / caveats
- No peer-reviewed clinical evidence yet; status = technical validation nearing
completion, entering clinical development (company/PR claims —
confidence: medium). - “First medical-grade smart lens” is a company claim.
- Biosensing, drug-delivery and AR/VR features are roadmap, not shipping product.
Related pages
- visual-prosthesis — umbrella hub (adjacent domain)
- axorus — photoacoustic retinal prosthesis, also developing a contact-lens form factor
- smart-glasses — wearable vision technology context
References
- Azalea Vision. “Azalea Vision Awarded Prestigious EIC Accelerator Funding to Advance Smart Contact Lens into Clinical Development.” Business Wire, 1 July 2026. 2
- Azalea Vision. “Technology.” azaleavision.com, accessed 6 September 2026. 1
- Business Wire newsroom (summaries, not raw-captured): “Azalea Vision Appoints Co-Founder Andrés Vasquez Quintero as Chief Executive Officer to Lead Next Phase of Clinical Development” (12 Aug 2026); “Azalea Vision Raises €9 Million in First Closing of Series A to Further Develop Intelligent Connected Vision Platform” (29 Apr 2025).