# Cayden Pierce

> Cayden Pierce is the CEO and co-founder of Mentra, a San Francisco startup building MentraOS - the open-source operating system for AI smart glasses. Described as 'the Android for smart glasses,' MentraOS lets developers write one app and deploy it across any pair of smart glasses. A self-described transhumanist hacker, Pierce built his first DIY smart glasses prototype in his dorm room, worked with smart glasses inventor Steve Mann at the University of Toronto, researched proactive AI wearable agents at MIT Media Lab under Pattie Maes, converted a 40-year-old RV into a mobile hacker lab, and dropped out of MIT in 2024 to launch Mentra. The company raised an $8 million seed round backed by the co-founders of Android, YouTube, and Pebble, plus Y Combinator, Amazon, and Toyota Ventures.

- **Role:** CEO and Co-Founder at Mentra
- **Organizations:** Mentra, MIT Media Lab, H2O Smart Glasses Community, Emex Labs, Y Combinator
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Dropped out (Media Lab research), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Collaboration with Steve Mann (smart glasses inventor), University of Toronto
- **Known for:** Raised $8 million seed round for Mentra from co-founders of Android (Rich Miner), YouTube (Jawed Karim), and Pebble (Eric Migicovsky), plus Y Combinator and Paul Graham, Built MentraOS - an open-source operating system for smart glasses allowing developers to write once and deploy across any device, Graduated from Y Combinator Winter 2025 batch

## Career timeline

- **~2018** — Built first DIY smart glasses prototype in dorm room, focused on captioning glasses
- **~2020** — Worked with Steve Mann, inventor of smart glasses/wearable computing, at University of Toronto
- **~2021** — Joined MIT Media Lab under Professor Pattie Maes, researching proactive AI wearable agents on smart glasses
- **2022** — Met co-founder Alexander Israelov on Reddit; began building open-source smart glasses out of an RV in Canada
- **2023** — Demonstrated OpenSourceSmartGlasses project at CES; appeared on The AR Show podcast
- **April 2024** — Delivered TEDxMIT talk: 'Can Smart Glasses Revolutionize How We Learn Languages?'
- **2024** — Dropped out of MIT; officially co-founded Mentra with Alexander Israelov; entered Y Combinator W25 batch
- **June 2025** — Spoke at AWE USA 2025 on 'AugmentOS: The Smart Glasses OS'
- **July 2025** — Announced $8M seed round and MentraOS 2.0 launch, backed by co-founders of Android, YouTube, Pebble, plus Amazon and Toyota Ventures

## Achievements

- Raised $8 million seed round for Mentra from co-founders of Android (Rich Miner), YouTube (Jawed Karim), and Pebble (Eric Migicovsky), plus Y Combinator and Paul Graham
- Built MentraOS - an open-source operating system for smart glasses allowing developers to write once and deploy across any device
- Graduated from Y Combinator Winter 2025 batch
- Delivered TEDxMIT talk on smart glasses and language learning (April 2024)
- Demonstrated OpenSourceSmartGlasses project at CES 2023
- Founded H2O Smart Glasses Community to connect end users and manufacturers
- Speaker at AWE USA 2025 - premier augmented and virtual reality conference
- Research at MIT Media Lab on proactive AI wearable agents under Professor Pattie Maes
- Collaborated directly with Steve Mann, one of the inventors of wearable computing and smart glasses

## Latest updates

- **2025-07** — Announced $8M seed round and MentraOS 2.0 launch, backed by Android co-founder Rich Miner, YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim, Pebble's Eric Migicovsky, Paul Graham, Amazon Alexa Fund, and Toyota Ventures
- **2025-06** — Spoke at AWE USA 2025 conference in session 'AugmentOS: The Smart Glasses OS'
- **2024-04** — Delivered TEDxMIT talk 'Can Smart Glasses Revolutionize How We Learn Languages?'
- **2024-01** — Dropped out of MIT to launch Mentra full-time

## Links

- Website: https://mentraglass.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cayden-pierce/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/caydengineer
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq2Dd8Yb6_D3MhUPobB7ZEg
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/mentra.me

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/cayden-pierce
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-14