Sesame, a conversational AI startup founded by the original minds behind Oculus, has raised $250 million in Series B funding and opened the beta of its AI companion app to a select group of testers. The company’s mission is to merge intelligent, lifelike voice interaction with elegant eyewear that feels as natural to wear as it is to speak to, pushing the boundaries of what everyday computing can look and feel like.
Co-founded by Brendan Iribe, the former CEO and co-founder of Oculus, and Ankit Kumar, the former CTO of AR startup Ubiquity6, Sesame aims to create a personal AI companion that sounds and responds like a real human. The team’s goal is to design an AI that doesn’t just answer questions but engages in genuine conversation, understands emotional context, and blends seamlessly into a user’s day-to-day life.
The company first made headlines in February when it quietly stepped out of stealth mode with two voice demos called “Maya” and “Miles.” Within weeks, those demos attracted more than a million users and generated over five million minutes of conversation. What set Sesame apart was its unique approach to audio generation, instead of converting pre-written text into speech, its technology generates expressive, humanlike speech directly from the model itself. This innovation allows the AI to capture subtleties like rhythm, emotion, and tone, creating an experience that feels natural, spontaneous, and alive.
Investors quickly took notice. Sequoia Capital, which led the latest round, said the technology stood out from everything else in the market. In its announcement post, Sequoia described the product as one that “felt different,” noting that Sesame’s conversational layer brought warmth and realism rarely seen in AI systems. The early enthusiasm wasn’t limited to investors. Reviewers and testers who experienced Sesame’s demos called them “genuinely fun,” “natural-sounding,” and far more human than traditional voice assistants, positioning the startup as one of the most promising entrants in the next wave of AI interfaces.
Now, Sesame is taking its technology beyond screens and into the physical world. The company is developing lightweight, fashion-forward smart glasses that integrate its conversational AI into everyday life. These glasses will include high-quality audio and a personal AI companion capable of observing and understanding the world alongside the wearer. The concept is not just about utility; it’s about making technology feel invisible, something you want to wear, not because it’s advanced, but because it feels like a natural extension of yourself.
According to Sesame, the goal is to create glasses that users would choose even without the embedded AI features. This approach reflects the company’s deep understanding of hardware design, thanks to its veteran founding team. In addition to Iribe and Kumar, the leadership includes Oculus co-founder Nate Mitchell as chief product officer, former Oculus and Fitbit executive Hans Hartmann as COO, and former Meta engineering directors Ryan Brown and Angela Gayles. Together, they bring years of experience in building hardware that combines comfort, design, and cutting-edge technology, a combination that has proven essential for any successful wearable.
While Sesame has not provided an official launch date for its glasses, the company acknowledged that “hardware takes time.” Yet its strong engineering background and substantial new funding position it well to execute on its ambitious vision. The $250 million Series B round, led by Sequoia and joined by Spark and several undisclosed backers, will be used to advance the company’s AI platform, scale its hardware development, and expand the team as it moves closer to bringing its smart glasses to market.
In parallel with the hardware work, Brendan Iribe announced that Sesame has opened a closed beta for its iOS app. The beta gives a small group of testers early access to the AI’s capabilities, which include the ability to “search, text, and think”, showcasing how the personal AI assistant could function in daily scenarios. Testers have been asked to keep their experiences confidential as the team continues refining the product and preparing for a wider release later on.
Sesame’s vision reflects a growing trend in the tech industry, the shift from screen-based interaction to ambient computing. Rather than relying on traditional apps and interfaces, companies like Sesame are designing experiences that weave AI into the background of human life. By combining voice-driven intelligence with wearable design, Sesame hopes to make talking to technology as effortless and natural as speaking to another person.
The company’s approach also signals a broader evolution in the AI space. Instead of treating AI as a tool, Sesame is positioning it as a companion, one capable of adapting to context, learning from interaction, and communicating with emotional nuance. That ambition, backed by a team of proven hardware builders and a $250 million war chest, could reshape how people experience AI in the coming decade.
For now, users eager to try the experience will have to wait. The beta remains private, and details about the glasses’ availability are still under wraps. But the promise of Sesame’s technology is already clear. If successful, it could mark the start of a new era in human-computer interaction, one where your AI doesn’t just respond to commands, but joins you in conversation as part of your daily routine.
With its roots in Oculus and its bold leap into conversational AI, Sesame stands out as one of the most intriguing startups redefining the boundary between hardware, software, and human connection. By bringing emotion, presence, and personality to AI, the company isn’t just building another smart device, it’s building the next interface for human communication.
