Alexia Perouse (Partner at Omnes Capital) and Bernard Gilly first discussed vision restoration systems in the early 2000s. "VRSs aim to enable blind people to perceive shapes and movements, a really tremendous project. But their design came up against two hurdles, systems miniaturisation and real-time image transmission", explains Bernard Gilly.
Pixium overcame these hurdles in 2011 when it launched IRIS (short for Intelligent Retinal Implant System), consisting of a pair of glasses with an integrated mini-camera linked to a pocket computer and a retinal implant that stimulates the brain cells.
"It met all our criteria for investment: disruptive technology, a seasoned management team and a promising medtech sector", says Alexia Perouse. So in 2012, Omnes Capital invested €5 million.