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Our First Press Release: Mentra Releases First Smart Glasses With An App Store

•4 minute read
Kevin Leu
Kevin Leu
Our First Press Release: Mentra Releases First Smart Glasses With An App Store

Historically, Mentra has not sought out press attention. In fact, even when we raised an $8M seed round in 2025, it was an afterthought. 

That's changing now. We’re excited that our first press announcement will introduce us to many reporters who were previously unfamiliar with us or haven’t received an update in some time.

We're shipping our Founder's 1000 Club Mentra Live one month from today! We've been working very hard between our teams here in San Francisco and Shenzhen to get you Mentra Live!

Check out the release below:

Mentra Releases First Smart Glasses With An App Store

Backed By Amazon, Toyota Ventures, YC, And More, The Open-Source Company Raised $8M In 2025 And Is The Only Smart Glasses With An App Store

JANUARY 15, 2026 — Mentra, makers of the leading smart glasses operating system, today announces the shipping of Mentra Live smart glasses. Mentra Live is the first glasses to be released by the company and is the only smart glasses to feature apps. At 43 grams, Mentra Live is among the lightest in the industry, featuring an HD 12MP camera for photo and video capture, video-stabilized livestreaming to any social media platform, AI integration, and the ability to take calls and listen to music. 

MentraOS, Mentra’s open-source operating system, features a software development kit (SDK), where developers have been building smart glasses apps for Mentra’s MiniApp Store since early 2025. Mentra Live is also the first smart glasses that allow users to livestream to all social media platforms, including X, YouTube, Twitch, OnlyFans, Instagram, and more.

“Smart glasses will only reach their full potential if the ecosystem remains open, accessible, and community-driven, rather than closed and dominated by Big Tech,” said Cayden Pierce, CEO and co-founder of Mentra. “Mentra Live and MentraOS empower users to choose their apps and control their data, while enabling devs to build on an open platform.”

Backed by Y Combinator, Rich Miner (Android co-founder), Jawed Karim (YouTube co-founder), Paul Graham, Eric Migicovsky (Pebble founder), Amazon, Toyota Ventures, and Hartmann Capital, amongst others, Mentra raised an $8 million seed round in July of 2025. At $299, only 1,000 Mentra Live were made available for Batch 1, shipping February 15. The company will open Batch 2 for sale with a limited amount of glasses available shipping later in Q1.

The Mentra MiniApp Store is the only app store for smart glasses, and allows users to access miniapps through Mentra’s iOS and Android app. Miniapps featured from various developers include Merge Proactive AI, Poker Probability, Chess Cheater, AI Notes, and more.

“What separates Mentra from the many smart glasses companies we diligenced is its rare combination of user-centric hardware design and a network-effect-driven software strategy,” said Felix Hartmann, Managing Partner of Hartmann Capital. “While others lead with theatrical demos or attempt to build overpowered gadgets few people will actually use, Mentra has been quietly building a market-ready product that thousands are adopting this year.”

Mentra Live Specifications:

    • 162L x 148W x 47H

    • Weight: 43g

    • Chipset: Mediatek MTK8766 CPU supported by low-power MCU (dual-chip processing for enhanced battery life)

    • OS: MentraOS

    • Battery:

      • Glasses standalone: 12+ hours/260mAh

      • Charging case: Adds 50+ hours/2,200mAh

      • Infinity Cable: Infinite battery by charging glasses from a phone or battery

    • Camera: 12MP/HD video

    • Camera field of view (FOV): 119 Degrees

    • Microphones: 3 (Enables audio mult-tasking)

    • Speakers: Stereo Audio

    • Supported phones: iOS 15.1+ and Android 12+

Find out more about Mentra here: https://mentraglass.com/ 

About Mentra

Founded in 2024, Mentra is the leading smart-glasses platform, combining an open-source operating system (OS), developer ecosystem, and consumer hardware. Mentra gives developers the ability to build, publish, and run applications on smart glasses through its SDK and MiniApp Store. Mentra is designed from the ground up to create a flexible, privacy-respecting, and developer-driven foundation for AI glasses experiences. Mentra Live is the company’s first pair of smart glasses, combining a 12MP camera with AI technology.

Headquartered in San Francisco, the Mentra team is made up of individuals with experience working with Google, MIT, FitBit, Calvin Klein, and Nike. Mentra is backed by world class investors, including Y Combinator, Amazon, Toyota Ventures, Hartmann Capital, Rich Miner, and Jawed Karim.