Berlin-LA startup Opdo raises $2.3M to automate optical engineering with AI

Berlin-LA based startup Opdo has secured $2.3 million in pre-seed funding to develop AI-powered automation for optical engineering. The Los Angeles and Berlin-based company is creating a self-improving system that combines AI-driven design and simulation with real-world manufacturing data, streamlining the process from initial design to finished components.

For over a year, Opdo has collaborated with customers to design complex optical systems, merging AI agents with specialized engineering expertise. The technology operates within existing optical design software, such as Zemax and CODE V, enabling engineers to enhance their workflows without replacing current tools. Opdo's own engineers provide additional design knowledge, while customers can also obtain prototypes and finished components through the company.

Optics plays a crucial role in various industries, including quantum computing, aerospace, augmented reality, defense, and advanced sensing. However, designing and manufacturing optical components remains time-consuming and labor-intensive, with a growing need for skilled engineers causing bottlenecks across these sectors. Opdo aims to address these challenges by connecting digital design with physical production, using data from manufactured components to improve AI models and automate the design-to-production journey.

Opdo's co-founders and CEOs, Stephan Kuehr and Yousef Arzhangnia, have backgrounds in manufacturing, optical engineering, artificial intelligence, and automation. The $2.3 million pre-seed round was led by Angular Ventures, with participation from Inflection and Tiny.vc. Jerry Dischler, a partner at Angular Ventures, noted that optics is one of the few deep engineering disciplines AI has not yet touched, making Opdo's approach unique by making engineers more productive without disrupting their existing tools and expertise.

Alexander Lange, a founding partner at Opdo, believes that AI's next frontier lies in physical applications, and Opdo is building a self-improving system that leverages real-world optical manufacturing data to enhance AI-based simulation tools. The investment will enable Opdo to expand its engineering capabilities, develop its AI tooling, and take on more customer projects.

Companies interested in accelerating their optical design projects or bringing new optical components into development can submit their use cases at opdo.ai.