OPIRIS, founded by Loïs de Varax and winner of the Jury Prize at the 2026 entrepreneurial grants, is developing the first compact "Single-Shot" multimodal imager for computer vision. Thanks to a patented birefringent optical mask, our solution simultaneously captures the phase, polarization, and spectrum of light. It enhances the reliability of AI decisions in critical conditions (camouflage, fog) for Defense and nanometric metrology. Sovereign and 10x more compact, OPIRIS overcomes the limitations of standard intensity imaging.
Your challenges in the coming months?
Our main challenges for the coming months revolve around four key areas. First, legal and financial structuring: we are finalizing the official creation of SAS OPIRIS during 2026, and we aim to close our €400k seed funding round — debt, Love Money, and Business Angels — by April 2026 to secure our R&D.
In parallel, we are entering an intensive R&D phase to move from TRL 5 to TRL 6. On the hardware side, we are beginning the miniaturization work for the imager, with the goal of reducing its volume by 10x and dividing production costs by 50x. On the software side, we are building real-world image banks and training our AI identification engine.
Next comes field validation: we are deploying our system in real-world conditions to demonstrate industrial ROI. This involves executing POC #2 with Thales on drone identification, as well as launching two additional POCs in metrology, notably with Inserm and Université Paris-Saclay.
Finally, we are preparing to file two new patents, aiming to secure our lead in optical compactness and our use cases in Defense.
What 21st by CentraleSupélec will bring you
Joining 21st by CentraleSupélec means, above all, gaining access to a network and expertise that we currently lack internally. Defense support and technical guidance will help us advance our POCs and reach TRL 6 under optimal conditions. Intellectual property support is also key for us, with two patent filings in preparation for the coming months.
To contact:
devaraxlois@gmail.com
#defense #innovation #deeptech #industrialvision
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