South Korea’s LetinAR is building optics behind AI glasses; plus, Marketing operating system Nectar Social raises $30M Series A led by Menlo

South Korea’s LetinAR is building optics behind AI glasses; plus, Marketing operating system Nectar Social raises $30M Series A led by Menlo

From TechCrunch Startup News by TechCrunch

May 19, 2026 · 8 min

About this episode

The episode discusses South Korea's LetinAR and its role in AI glasses optics, along with Nectar Social's $30M Series A funding announcement.

A lens the size of a thumbnail — and the South Korean startup that makes it could become the optical backbone of the AI glasses era. Also, AI-powered marketing platform Nectar Social announced Thursday that it raised a $30 million Series A round led by Menlo Ventures and its Anthology Fund, which was created alongside Anthropic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Topics covered

  • AI glasses
  • optics
  • startup funding
  • marketing technology
  • South Korea

Keywords

  • LetinAR
  • Nectar Social
  • AI glasses
  • Menlo Ventures
  • optics
  • Series A
  • marketing platform

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: LetinAR, Nectar Social, Menlo Ventures, Anthropic

Places: South Korea

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