Alexander Israelov
| Alexander Israelov | |
| Occupation | Software engineer, entrepreneur |
|---|---|
| Known for | Co-founder of Mentra |
| Education | University of Colorado Boulder (Computer Science) |
Alexander Israelov is an American software engineer and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and Head of Engineering of Mentra, a startup building an open-source operating system for smart glasses. Mentra was part of the Y Combinator Winter 2025 batch.[1]
Career
Israelov studied computer science at the University of Colorado Boulder. Prior to founding Mentra, he worked as a software engineer at iManage, where he contributed to upgrades in software architecture. He also co-founded CheckPlease, a startup focused on mobile payment solutions for restaurants.
Israelov has been active in the wearable technology space. He served as Head of Apps at TeamOpenSmartGlasses, an open-source initiative for smart glasses development, where he led the Convoscope project, which aimed to provide wearers with proactive conversational insights. He also worked as a Wearable Engineer at Auki Labs. Additionally, he founded Glossana, a technology company.
Israelov co-founded Mentra alongside Cayden Pierce. The company develops an open-source operating system and app store for smart glasses hardware. According to the company, Mentra's premise is that smart glasses hardware has reached sufficient maturity, and the platform now requires a dedicated operating system and application ecosystem to support adoption as a computing platform.[2]
Mentra's first product, the Mentra Live, is a pair of AI-enabled smart glasses priced at $299 and available with prescription lenses. The device supports video capture, livestreaming, and AI-powered note-taking. The company operates in the artificial intelligence, hardware, consumer electronics, open-source software, and augmented reality sectors, and is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Mentra has attracted investment from several notable backers, including Y Combinator, Toyota Ventures, Amazon, Hartmann Capital, and individual investors including the founders of YouTube, Pebble, and Android. In July 2025, Mentra announced it had raised $8 million to launch MentraOS 2.0, an updated version of its open-source operating system for smart glasses.
References
- ↑ "Mentra – Y Combinator". 'Y Combinator}'. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
- ↑ "Mentra". 'Mentra}'. Retrieved 2026-03-18.