Dubai-Based Deep Tech Startup XPANCEO Is Now A Unicorn

What if the future of computing was not something you held—but something you saw through? 

That’s the vision powering XPANCEO, the Dubai-based deep tech startup that just raised US$250 million at a $1.35 billion valuation, catapulting it into unicorn territory as it races to bring smart contact lenses to life. 

The investment was led by Hong Kong-based venture capital (VC) firm Opportunity Venture (Asia), which had also backed XPANCEO’s earlier $40 million seed funding. The new capital will fund the final development of its flagship product, a multifunctional smart contact lens, while supporting team expansion, regulatory efforts, and limited production for initial B2B pilots. 

Founded by Dr. Valentyn S. Volkov (Scientific Partner) and Roman Axelrod (Managing Partner) in the UAE in 2021, XPANCEO is developing a contact lens thinner than a human hair, integrating technologies such as augmented reality (AR), health tracking, night vision, optical zoom, and color-blindness adjustment into a single wearable interface.  

In an interview with Inc. Arabia, Volkov noted that the company’s unicorn status represents more than a valuation spike—it’s a signal of credibility and momentum. “As a scientist first and foremost, I never set out to just build a unicorn company,” he said. “For me, this milestone transcends any financial benchmark—it's a powerful validation that the ideas we’ve cultivated in our labs for years have the potential to reshape the world.” 

Volkov also sees the new funding as a critical inflection point: a shift from theory to application, and from lab breakthroughs to scalable product development. “Internally, reaching unicorn status strengthens our position on multiple levels,” he said. “It boosts our ability to attract world-class talent, deepens trust with partners and customers, and gives our team a renewed sense of purpose and confidence.” 

“It’s also a reminder that our mission matters and the world is watching,” he continued. “Often, we’re not merely launching products—we’re inventing the core platforms on which future technologies will be built. This funding enables us to explore more ambitious questions, invest in long-term infrastructure, and secure the intellectual property that underpins our work.” 

Axelrod added, “It hasn’t even been two years, but we’ve moved fast. We started development in 2021 with our own resources, and we raised a seed round in 2023. Smart glasses are now widely seen as the next big thing in tech, but we’re already a step ahead, building smart contact lenses as the key form factor for the next wave of computing."

Axelrod credited the company’s rapid progress to a high-performing team, strong academic partnerships, and strategic industry collaborations, pointing to Dubai’s broader ecosystem as a key enabler of the company’s ambitions. “Dubai encourages innovation through tax benefits and various support programs,” Axelrod said. “We deeply admire the tech vision and the ambitious goals of Dubai’s leadership. They are perfectly aligned with our own mission. This supportive environment and visionary governance make Dubai an ideal hub for our pioneering work.” 

But Axelrod acknowledged that the road to building such a groundbreaking product comes with significant costs and challenges. “Deep tech development is incredibly expensive and time-consuming,” Axelrod said. “Our laboratory alone has cost around $8 million so far, and much more will be invested in the next few years. We’ve already developed key prototypes for most of the features we envision. However, there’s still a lot of work ahead.” 

The XPANCEO smart lens. Image courtesy XPANCEO.

By the end of 2026, the XPANCEO team aims to consolidate the lens’ core functions into a unified prototype. The goal is to integrate image projection, real-time health monitoring, and enhanced vision features—including color correction and night vision—into one seamless device. Beyond that, the focus will shift toward making the lens stable, biocompatible, and ready for real-world use. 

For Axelrod, achieving unicorn status is more than just hitting a valuation milestone—it marks a meaningful step toward realizing a much larger vision. “This moment is validation that we’re on the right path—and that is incredibly rewarding,” Axelrod said. “It’s an opportunity to take a quick pause to appreciate how far we’ve come before getting back to work. My ambition was never just to hit a valuation milestone. That’s great, sure—but we’re after something much bigger.” 

XPANCEO thus envisions its smart contact lens as the next major computing platform—an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered extended reality (XR) interface that could ultimately replace today’s fragmented wearables, from smartphones and fitness trackers to smart glasses and watches. Indeed, Axelrol described it as “a single interface to replace all the fragmented devices we use now—phones, watches, fitness trackers, glasses—all condensed into something you literally forget you’re wearing.” 

Having developed 15 functional prototypes already, XPANCEO is now moving into its next phase: finalizing the product, completing biocompatibility testing, and initiating clinical trials. “One of our key target groups is people with certain health conditions who could benefit most from real-time health monitoring—particularly those with glaucoma or diabetes,” Axelrod said. “We already have working prototypes for this use case, and we are currently undergoing biocompatibility testing. Once that is successfully completed, we’ll begin clinical trials in humans.”

While approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be required before any commercial rollout, Axelrod also noted that bringing such a complex medical device to market also requires careful navigation of regulatory processes and long-term planning. “We’ve already started working with regulators, and we are following the standard medical-device pathway, starting with biocompatibility and cytotoxicity testing, then moving to preclinical trials involving animals and eventually to target groups of patients who can benefit the most from our tech,” Axelrod noted, while also revealing that the company expects to begin B2B pilots post-2026, and is aiming for a consumer market entry around 2030. 

As the wearables space evolves, XPANCEO is watching both AR/XR and health-tracking trends closely—but believes the real opportunity lies in combining them. “We see big tech rushing to build AR/XR wearables, while at the same time, more health-tracking gadgets are popping up to give a full picture of our wellbeing,” Axelrod said. “Both are advancing, but honestly, they’re not enough. With smart contact lenses, we’re ahead of the curve.” 

XPANCEO was founded by Roman Axelrod, Managing Partner, and Dr. Valentyn S. Volkov, Scientific Partner. Image courtesy XPANCEO.

However, Volkov admitted that the technical challenges ahead are significant, particularly when it comes to packing advanced capabilities into a lens that remains safe, comfortable, and wearable. “The complexity lies in balancing miniaturization, safety, and functionality simultaneously,” Volkov explained. “We need a microdisplay that’s bright and clear but fits into contact lenses without adding discomfort or bulk. Data transmission must be both fast and secure while consuming minimal power.” 

But the real engineering hurdle lies in bringing all of these elements together into one cohesive, functional system. “The toughest part is integrating all of these components—the optical systems, sensors, power source, and antennas—into a tiny soft lens that remains breathable and biocompatible,” he said. “Every element must perform perfectly without interfering with the others, which demands cutting-edge materials science, microfabrication, and system engineering working in harmony.” 

According to Axelrod, the key challenge XPANCEO will face is not market demand, but technical execution. “Unlike Apple Vision Pro, we won’t struggle to integrate our product into daily life,” he said. “People who already wear contact lenses will gladly switch to ours if they offer the usual features plus some additional ‘superpowers.’ So, our challenges are mostly technical.” 

For founders in the region eyeing similarly bold frontiers as XPANCEO, Axelrod had a simple but powerful piece of advice. “Set your sights on changing humanity—everything else follows,” he said. “If you’re working on something that matters deeply to you and has the potential to transform lives, it becomes much easier to build a clear roadmap, bring in the right investors, and stay resilient no matter how big or ambitious your vision is.” 

“Also, never underestimate the power of combining strong technical expertise with an equally strong business vision,” Axelrod added. “That convergence is what turns research projects into real products—something built for people, by people, not another R&D experiment gathering dust on a shelf.”

Pictured in the lead image are (from left to right) XPANCEO's founders, Dr. Valentyn S. Volkov, Scientific Partner, and Roman Axelrod, Managing Partner. Image courtesy XPANCEO.