Sesame is moving from demo buzz toward broader testing. The conversational AI startup and smart glasses maker has raised a $250 million Series B round and is opening its beta to a select group of testers, the company announced Tuesday.
The company is led by Brendan Iribe, former Oculus co-founder and CEO, and Ankit Kumar, former CTO of AR startup Ubiquity6. Its larger team includes Oculus co-founder Nate Mitchell and other executives and engineers with experience across Oculus, Fitbit, Reality Labs, Facebook, and Meta.
A voice-first AI agent
Sesame is building a personal AI agent that users can talk to through a natural-sounding human voice. The company’s stated goal is not simply to place a chatbot in a new device, but to create an assistant that can hold spoken interactions in a way that feels closer to normal conversation.
The startup first emerged from stealth in February with two voice demos called “Maya” and “Miles.” Those demos quickly drew attention. According to a new post by Sesame investor Sequoia about its role in the Series B, more than a million people accessed the voices within the first few weeks and generated more than 5 million minutes of conversation.
That early usage matters because Sesame’s product depends on the quality of its conversational layer. A voice agent has to do more than produce accurate words. It also has to sound responsive, expressive, and comfortable enough for repeated use.
Sequoia described Sesame’s system as different from tools that turn large language model output into audio after the fact. In Sequoia’s account, Sesame generates speech directly, with attention to rhythm, emotion, and expressiveness. Early outside reaction has pointed in the same direction: The Verge described the demo as “genuinely fun” and “natural-sounding.”
Why the glasses matter
Sesame’s long-term hardware plan is to put the personal AI agent into lightweight eyewear intended for all-day wear. The company says the upcoming glasses will include “high-quality audio” and access to an AI companion that can “observe the world alongside you.”
That makes the device strategy central to the company’s pitch. If the assistant is meant to be available throughout the day, eyewear gives Sesame a route to voice interaction that does not require users to keep pulling out a phone or sitting in front of a computer.
Sequoia also said the smartglasses are being designed to be fashion-forward. In plain terms, the aim is for the glasses to look like something a person might choose even without the AI features built in.
There is no public availability window yet. Sequoia put the delay simply: “hardware takes time.” For Sesame, that means the software beta can move ahead while the glasses remain in development.
The beta starts with an iOS app
Alongside the funding news, Iribe announced on X that Sesame is opening an early beta of the Sesame iOS app. The app gives testers a way to try the AI technology before the company’s eyewear is available.
Iribe said the app will be able to “search, text and think.” The source article does not provide more detail on how those functions work, and beta participants are being asked to keep their experiences confidential for now.
That confidentiality request covers discussion of features or results outside the official beta test forums. As a result, the public picture of the beta is still limited to what Sesame and Iribe have disclosed.
Even so, the beta is an important step because it moves Sesame beyond a public voice demo. Selected testers will now interact with a more practical app experience, while the company continues toward its hardware goal.
A team built around AI and hardware
Sesame’s founding roster is notable because the company is trying to combine conversational AI with consumer hardware. Iribe and Mitchell both come from Oculus, while Kumar previously served as CTO of AR startup Ubiquity6.
The broader team also includes Nate Mitchell as chief product officer, Hans Hartmann as COO, Ryan Brown, and Angela Gayles. Hartmann is a former Oculus COO and Fitbit executive. Brown previously worked as an Oculus engineer manager and Reality Labs engineering director. Gayles is described as a longtime Facebook and Meta executive.
That background is relevant because Sesame’s challenge spans several layers at once:
- Building a voice AI experience that sounds natural enough for frequent use.
- Creating an app that lets selected users test the underlying technology.
- Developing lightweight eyewear that people may want to wear throughout the day.
- Making the hardware look acceptable as everyday glasses, not just as an AI device.
The $250 million Series B gives Sesame fresh backing as it works across those layers. Investors in the round include Sequoia, Spark, and other undisclosed backers, according to Iribe.
What to watch next
For now, Sesame is still in an early phase. The company has shown voice demos, announced major funding, and opened a limited iOS beta. The smart glasses remain upcoming, and no timeframe for availability has been shared.
The immediate question is how the app beta develops under confidentiality. The larger question is whether Sesame can carry the appeal of its “Maya” and “Miles” demos into a product that works across search, texting, thinking, and eventually wearable use.
What is clear from the source is the direction of travel: Sesame is betting that conversational AI should sound more human, be easier to access during the day, and eventually live in glasses designed for regular wear. The new funding and beta launch give that bet its next test.