# Alex Westner

> Alex Westner is the co-founder and CEO of Xander, a Raleigh-based startup building AR smart glasses that print live captions of in-person conversations directly into the wearer's field of view. An MIT Media Lab-trained audio engineer who spent nearly two decades shipping sound software (including the Emmy-winning iZotope RX, nicknamed the Photoshop for Sound), Westner now turns his obsession with the cocktail party problem into a self-contained, no-cloud, no-phone device that helps people follow conversations they can no longer fully hear.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at Xander
- **Organizations:** Xander, Fidelity Investments, iZotope, Spark23, Gibson, Cakewalk, MIT Media Lab
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BS, Electrical Engineering, Rutgers University, MS, Media Arts and Sciences (acoustics and audio processing), MIT Media Lab
- **Known for:** Co-founded Xander and built self-contained AR captioning glasses requiring no phone or cloud connection, Contributed to iZotope RX, the Emmy-winning audio repair tool known as the Photoshop for Sound, CES 2024 Innovation Award Honoree (Accessibility & Aging Tech)

## Career timeline

- **1996-1998** — Researched microphone arrays and the cocktail party problem at the MIT Media Lab
- **2010** — Joined iZotope as Business Development Manager, later Director of Product Management and Product Strategy
- **2016-2020** — President of Spark23 Ltd
- **2018** — Joined Fidelity Investments, rising to Vice President of Product Management
- **2020-02** — Launched Xander as a side project
- **2023** — XanderGlasses powered by Vuzix Blade announced at CES; Marilyn Morgan Westner joins as official co-founder
- **2024** — Xander named a CES Innovation Award Honoree in Accessibility & Aging Tech
- **2024-2025** — Vuzix begins supplying custom Shield AR glasses; Xander places repeat and largest-ever reorders to meet demand

## Achievements

- Co-founded Xander and built self-contained AR captioning glasses requiring no phone or cloud connection
- Contributed to iZotope RX, the Emmy-winning audio repair tool known as the Photoshop for Sound
- CES 2024 Innovation Award Honoree (Accessibility & Aging Tech)
- Won the CTA Foundation Eureka Park Accessibility Contest
- Raised roughly $2.8M in total funding including a $1.4M round to scale captioning glasses
- Brought Xander into the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs innovation program

## Latest updates

- **2025** — Vuzix began supplying Xander with custom Shield AR glasses, and Xander placed its largest-ever reorder to meet growing demand for captioning glasses.
- **2024-09** — Xander's most recent funding round closed; total funding reaches about $2.8M.
- **2024** — XanderGlasses named a CES 2024 Innovation Award Honoree in Accessibility & Aging Tech.

## Links

- Website: https://xander.tech
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwestner
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/alxwestner
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8TldCTIz1A
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alexplosive/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/alex-westner
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-25