Clerio Vision
Rochester, US · Founded 2014 · 39 employees on LinkedIn · 3 known investors
Clerio Vision is a development-stage medical device company developing LIRIC, a femtosecond laser technology that changes the refractive index of lens materials or corneal tissue without cutting or removing tissue. It applies this platform across four ophthalmic areas—multifocal contact lenses, myopia control lenses, post-implant intraocular lens adjustment, and incisionless laser vision correction—for patients with presbyopia, myopia, and other refractive errors.
Also known as Clerio
Founders & leadership
Board
Investors · 3
Reported raises · per SEC filings
Form D private placements$28.9M disclosed across 5 rounds · 2014–2020
▶$8.3MraisedJan 2021 · 45 investors · BiotechnologyRule 506(b)
- Brian ModelDirector
- David WilliamsDirector
- Arunas ChesonisDirector
- Alex ZapesochnyExecutive Officer, Director, Promoter
- Alexandra LatypovaExecutive Officer, Director, Promoter
- J. Mikael TottermanExecutive Officer, Director, Promoter
- Robert CochraneDirector
- Offering amount
- $12.5M
- Amount sold
- $8.3M
- Minimum investment
- $30K
- First sale
- Dec 2020
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$11.9MraisedJul 2019 · 9 investors · BiotechnologyRule 506(b)
- Arunas ChesonisDirector
- Brian ModelDirector
- Alexandra LatypovaExecutive Officer, Director, Promoter
- Alex ZapesochnyExecutive Officer, Director, Promoter
- J. Mikael TottermanExecutive Officer, Director, Promoter
- David WilliamsDirector
- Offering amount
- $25M
- Amount sold
- $11.9M
- Minimum investment
- $100K
- First sale
- Jun 2019
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware, 2014
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$3.6MraisedJul 2017 · 33 investors · BiotechnologyRule 506(b)
- J. Mikael TottermanExecutive Officer, Promoter
- David WilliamsDirector
- Alex ZapesochnyExecutive Officer, Director, Promoter
- Arunas ChesonisDirector
- Alexandra LatypovaExecutive Officer, Director, Promoter
- Brian ModelDirector
- Offering amount
- $5M
- Amount sold
- $3.6M
- Minimum investment
- $3.1K
- First sale
- Jul 2017
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware, 2014
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$3.2MraisedJan 2016 · 31 investors · BiotechnologyRule 506(b)
- Alexandra LatypovaExecutive Officer, Director, Promoter
- Brian ModelDirector
- J. Mikael TottermanExecutive Officer, Promoter
- Arunas ChesonisDirector
- Alex ZapesochnyExecutive Officer, Director, Promoter
- David WilliamsDirector
- Offering amount
- $5M
- Amount sold
- $3.2M
- Minimum investment
- $5.6K
- First sale
- Dec 2015
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware, 2014
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$2MraisedJan 2015 · 10 investors · BiotechnologyRule 506(b)
- J. Mikael TottermanExecutive Officer, Promoter
- David WilliamsDirector
- Alex ZapesochnyExecutive Officer, Director, Promoter
- Alexandra LatypovaExecutive Officer, Director, Promoter
- Brian ModelDirector
- Arunas ChesonisDirector
- Offering amount
- $3.7M
- Amount sold
- $2M
- Proceeds to insiders
- $425K
- First sale
- Dec 2014
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware, 2014
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
Source: SEC EDGAR Form D. Amounts as filed; amended filings shown once at their latest values.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Clerio Vision is a development-stage medical device company built around LIRIC (Laser Induced Refractive Index Change), a femtosecond laser technique that alters the refractive index of materials such as hydrogels or corneal tissue without removing material or changing shape. Ultra-short laser pulses are used to write optical structures inside a lens or the eye by modifying material density at the molecular level, producing an optical rather than a structural change.
The company applies this single platform to four ophthalmic application areas: multifocal contact lenses for presbyopia, soft contact lenses designed to slow myopia progression in children, post-implant adjustment of intraocular lenses following cataract surgery, and incisionless corneal refractive correction as an alternative to conventional LASIK. Clerio states that first in-human LIRIC trials have been completed and that the platform is protected by more than 90 patents across more than 30 families, including more than 80 US patents.
Founding story
Clerio Vision originated from research at the University of Rochester, a center for optics research, conducted in collaboration with the Center for Visual Sciences. The company describes its origins in Nobel Prize-winning (2018) femtosecond laser physics research and says the underlying work began as a research collaboration in 2003 between femtosecond laser physicists and ophthalmology specialists.
Traction
Clerio reports completed first-in-human LIRIC trials, more than $80M of R&D investment, more than 90 patents across more than 30 families (including more than 80 US patents), and a financing round announced as successfully completed to accelerate development of the LIRIC contact lens platform.
Latest developments
In April 2026 Clerio announced a patent for an "Enhanced LIRIC" vision correction design covering trifocal and extended-range optics, and said it would present what it described as the world's first LCA-correcting soft contact lens at the ARVO 2026 Annual Meeting, with diffractive lenses fabricated using LIRIC shown to correct, neutralize or reverse longitudinal chromatic aberration, an optical cue implicated in myopia progression. The company also announced the successful completion of a financing round intended to accelerate development of the LIRIC contact lens platform.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography
Market position
Clerio positions LIRIC as one platform addressing four multi-billion-dollar ophthalmic segments, including a stated $2.5B global presbyopia market, and frames this cross-segment applicability as unusual among both startups and incumbents.
Differentiation is based on refractive index change without cutting, ablation or shape change, enabling diffractive and GRIN optical structures that the company says are impossible to produce by molding, post-surgical adjustability of implanted lenses, and repeatable corrections that can be updated as vision changes.
Technology
The core technology, LIRIC, uses ultra-short femtosecond laser pulses to change the refractive index of hydrogels or corneal tissue without cutting, ablation or removal of material. Computer-generated micro-patterns and proprietary diffractive structures that the company says cannot be molded are written inside lens material, enabling gradient-index (GRIN) optics, customizable optical zones, and corrections that can be updated or adjusted over time. In the intraocular application, corrective optics are written into an IOL after implantation, working with standard IOL materials and allowing a monofocal lens to be given multifocal optics. In the corneal application, the refractive index of the cornea is altered without a flap or tissue removal, which the company says preserves corneal structural integrity and reduces dry eye risk because nerves are not severed.
Go-to-market
The company presents itself as seeking partners and investors to commercialize the LIRIC platform across its four application areas, and lists partners and backing from investors on its website.
Patients with refractive error and age-related vision loss, including the presbyopic population (described as nearly everyone over 45, or roughly 1.8 billion people), children at risk of myopia progression, cataract patients with residual refractive error after IOL implantation (approximately 30% of cases), and prospective refractive surgery patients deterred by the cutting involved in conventional LASIK.
Geography
Rooted in research at the University of Rochester in the United States, with programs framed against global patient populations.
Compiled by commissioned research from 1 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Non-dilutive funding · 2 SBIR/STTR awards
Federal grants — no equity taken| Agency | Phase | Year | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Science Foundation | Phase IISTTR | 2017 | $750K |
| National Science Foundation | Phase ISTTR | 2016 | $225K |
Source: SBIR.gov award data (U.S. Small Business Administration). SBIR/STTR awards are competitive federal R&D grants and contracts — non-dilutive capital alongside any venture rounds above.
Timeline · 3
launches, deals, and filingsClerio Vision announced it would present diffractive soft contact lenses fabricated with LIRIC that correct, neutralize or reverse longitudinal chromatic aberration, an optical cue implicated in myopia progression.
Clerio Vision announced a new patent supporting trifocal and extended-range vision correction designs.
Company press release stating a financing round was completed, with proceeds to accelerate development of the LIRIC contact lens platform.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 1
primary sources listed
- Clerio Visioncleriovision.com · web
1 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Clerio Vision do?
- Development-stage medical device company applying its LIRIC femtosecond laser platform across four ophthalmic markets.
- Who are Clerio Vision's investors?
- Clerio Vision's investors include Safar Partners, Armory Square Ventures, UpVentures Capital.
- How much funding has Clerio Vision raised?
- Clerio Vision has disclosed $28.9M raised across 5 rounds.
- Where is Clerio Vision headquartered?
- Clerio Vision is headquartered in Rochester, US.