Cayden Pierce
| Cayden Pierce | |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur, software developer |
|---|---|
| Known for | Co-founder of Mentra |
Cayden Pierce is an American entrepreneur and co-founder of Mentra, a startup building an open-source operating system for smart glasses. The company participated in Y Combinator's Winter 2025 batch and is based in San Francisco.[1]
Early life and education
Pierce began experimenting with smart glasses technology while in college, building his first pair of smart glasses in his university dorm in 2018. He later attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he was affiliated with the MIT Media Lab. In 2024, Pierce dropped out of MIT to co-found Mentra.[2]
Career
In 2022, Pierce connected with Alex Israelov on Reddit; the two had been independently working on smart glasses technology. Together they formed TeamOpenSmartGlasses, described as one of the earliest communities of smart glasses enthusiasts and developers. The pair presented OpenSourceSmartGlasses at CES 2023.[2]
That project led Pierce and Israelov to identify a need for a dedicated operating system for smart glasses hardware. In 2024, Pierce left MIT and Israelov left his job to formally co-found Mentra and develop MentraOS, an open-source operating system designed specifically for smart glasses. The company's thesis is that while smart glasses hardware and AI capabilities have matured sufficiently, the software layer — including an operating system and app ecosystem — has not kept pace.[1] In July 2025, the company raised $8 million to launch MentraOS 2.0. The company's investors include Y Combinator, Toyota Ventures, Amazon, and Hartmann Capital, as well as the founders of YouTube, Pebble, and Android.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Mentra – Y Combinator". 'Y Combinator}'. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "About Us – Mentra". 'Mentra}'. Retrieved 2026-03-18.