A spinoff of Albuquerque tech company WaveFront Sciences in May closed a $3 million investment round as it moves toward manufacturing and commercialization.
The company, called WaveFront Dynamics, is advancing ophthalmology technology. The investment round was led by local venture fundsTramway Venture Partners with additional participation from NMA Ventures at the Sandia Science & Technology Park, said company CEO Dan Neal.
WaveFront Dynamics is working to commercialize a device that can measure aberrations of the eye that cause vision impairments. The eventually wants to use it to develop custom contact lenses.
Neal said it is still considering the pricing for contact lenses but that the machine could cost between $32,000 and $35,000.
In November, the startup began conducting a clinical trial that currently has about 20 participants, Neal said. WaveFront Dynamics hopes to begin commercializing early next year and, in order to do so, will need to put together a production operation. Jobs in quality assurance and manufacturing will be available, and Neal estimated the company may hire six more people by the end of the first quarter of 2022.
The 18-person company was incorporated in August 2019 and has faced supply chain difficulties due to price increases during the Covid-19 pandemic, Neal said. Its initial production run will include 10 devices and it has already built several prototypes, he said.
The startup first found its roots in 1996, with the founding of refractive surgery diagnostic systems provider WaveFront Sciences. That company was acquired in 2007 for at least $14 million in cash by Advanced Medical Optics, which was later purchased by Abbott Laboratories.
Multinational corporation Johnson & Johnson acquired that newly merged firm, Abbott Medical Optics, for $4.3 billion in 2017.
Last year, WaveFront Dynamics moved into a 9,800-square-foot facility at 2420 Comanche Road NE, which includes "optical labs, [an] optometry lane and machine shops," Neal said in a prepared statement.
