LiPro Vision is a Taiwan based startup team dedicated to making optical engines for smart sports glasses. Their metalens optical engine was developed to solve existing pain points in smart glasses, including: cumbersome size, short battery life, and poor visual effects. In mid-September 2023, the InnoVEX team had a chance to interview Dr. Frank Yuan-Po Lin, CEO and Co-founder of LiPro Vision to discuss their product, future developments, and their differentiation; as well as their experience in InnoVEX 2023, the pitch contest, and winning the Future Star Award.

"Our solution integrates two very cutting-edge technologies, including metalens optics and transparent Micro LED displays, to be extremely lightweight, power-saving and high-brightness. However, because our technologies were so fresh, it was difficult to convince government agencies or private entities to invest in our R&D efforts." He said.

Currently focusing on applications for the sportstech industry, LiPro Vision believes that the smart sports glasses industry has continued to grow and has great market potential. At the same time, the underlying technologies might be applied in different scenarios such as in the automotive, photography, or other industries. "Our main focus right now is still the sportstech industry, but when we have enough manpower and funding, we will consider applying our 2 main technologies, metalens optics and transparent Micro LED displays, to other industries and applications." Dr. Lin said.

As an early stage startup, Dr. Lin shared that LiPro Vision's position in the niche sportstech industry is strengthened by their innovative technologies and market segmentation. "Most startup companies are relatively short on resources, especially in the early stages, so choosing the B2B market can be better than the more mainstream B2C market. Regardless of the products or services they offer, startups must first differentiate their offerings from the competitors in their market segment and fully solve their customers' pain points."

Entering the AR sports glasses market also provides LiPro Vision with great opportunities. While the industry is not yet in the mainstream, it has great potential and continues to grow. According to Dr. Lin, one of the main components of AR smart glasses is the optical engine and at the moment, no company can completely meet the market demands and there are still many technologies that startups can explore and develop on. For LiPro Vision, this potential does not mean new potential competitors, but prospective partners. "The AR sports glasses market has great potential, so we welcome other startups interested in this industry to join us as strategic partners."

For LiPro Vision, it is important to continue to optimize their products and successfully capture a certain proportion of the sportstech market before entering the consumer market. "In this day and age, the market is not limited to one region only. Some time ago, we joined CES and realized that both Europe and the US have a large sports population and sports eyewear manufacturers, so after our company is established next year, we will prioritize on these two markets. Our main goals for the next year are: completing a high-resolution prototype while actively working with strategic partners and achieving our USD 2 million fundraising goal."

For InnoVEX 2023, LiPro Vision joined the TREE Pavilion which was organized by the Department of Industrial Technology and had the opportunity to meet with over 30 VCs and potential suppliers. They also had over 100 matches with companies, institutions, and private entities. LiPro Vision was the winner of the Future Star Award in the InnoVEX 2023 Pitch Contest; an award aimed for early-stage startups. "Next year, we aim to launch our products with higher resolution, full screen, and 4x brightness. We believe these functions and specifications will be more in line with the market demand."

Joining InnoVEX 2023 has opened new opportunities for LiPro Vision as Dr. Lin commented, "Thanks to the excellent arrangement and marketing of InnoVEX, our products received a lot of inquiries during InnoVEX 2023. We have gained more attention from VCs and other potential investors after the exhibition. After winning the Future Star Award, many investors have negotiated investment matters with us. For us, InnoVEX is a great help in raising funds and finding our strategic partners."

A year can provide startups with truly game changing updates and LiPro Vision expects to be able to provide higher PPI (pixels per square inch) by InnoVEX 2024. This improvement will enable more information to be displayed in the glasses, including: GPS information and text messages, even in bright sunlight.

For startups interested in joining InnoVEX 2024, Dr. Lin shared the following messages: "Many niche markets have great potentials and if you are interested in the AR sports glasses industry, we welcome you to join us in exploring the industry in InnoVEX 2024."

Joining the Pitch Contest might be quite intimidating, but Dr. Lin said there are various benefits to startups in addition to the prizes. "By participating in the Pitch Contest, startups can further examine and improve their consumer pain points, solutions, business models or financial plans. With the jury panels consisting of VCs, the Pitch Contest is the best way to get to know potential investors. If and when you win an award, you not only gain the prizes; you also get attention from investors."

Startups and teams interested in joining InnoVEX 2024 can enjoy the early bird pricing by signing up before January 31, 2024. Register here:
>>> https://innovex.computex.biz/show/registration-info.aspx.

Watch the InnoVEX 2023 recap video here:
>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IudQ_9QUSKM

About InnoVEX
Started in 2016, InnoVEX is a startup-focused exhibition organized by the Taipei Computer Association (TCA) and the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA). Positioned as the innovation hub of Asia, InnoVEX is held alongside Asia's leading ICT B2B Tradeshow, COMPUTEX, to connect startups and their innovations to global VCs, CVCs, manufacturing partners, buyers, and media.

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