A Chinese startup has created smart glasses without a camera and has become a unicorn

Chinese startup Even Realities, which develops smart glasses, has raised $150 million in a Pre-Series B funding round. The round was led by Meituan, with existing investor Tencent also participating. Following the deal, the company’s valuation reached $1 billion.

The startup was founded in 2023 by former Apple engineers. Unlike most market players, including Meta and Snap, Even Realities is betting on smart glasses without built-in cameras. According to the company’s founder and CEO Will Van, this approach helps preserve user privacy by projecting information directly into the user’s field of view without the need for photo or video recording.

The flagship model, Even G2, launched in late 2025, features a built-in display that projects information in front of the user’s eyes, with control managed via the Bluetooth-enabled Even R1 ring. The company has also developed its own optical technology, Even HAO, which combines a microdisplay, waveguide optics, and support for prescription lenses.

According to the company, more than half of Even Realities’ users are in the United States, making it the startup’s largest market. Despite manufacturing devices in China, the company currently does not sell them in the domestic market, focusing instead on the US, Japan, South Korea, the Middle East, and Europe.

Even Realities has already achieved profitability. The glasses start at $599, and the average order value with prescription lenses and the ring reaches approximately $1,000. The startup also announced that it became the first manufacturer in its category to sell more than 10,000 pairs of smart glasses.

Source: TechCrunch