Pawan Shrestha

Dr Pawan Shrestha is a researcher-turned-entrepreneur whose decade of scientific work at the University of Cambridge laid the foundation for one of the most promising deep-tech companies in UK optics. As a Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Fellow and researcher in the Centre for Photonic Devices and Sensors, he spent years developing nanophotonic lens technology capable of projecting always-in-focus images directly onto the retina — solving a problem that has plagued augmented and virtual reality headsets since their inception.

In 2022, Pawan spun out AllFocal Optics (formerly Lark Optics) from the Cambridge Engineering Department to bring this technology to market. As founder and CEO, he led the company's $5.3 million seed raise, backed by SpeedInvest, 7PC Ventures, Martlet Capital and Innovate UK, alongside investors including former professional footballer Mario Götze. The round came on the back of successful early trials with Jaguar Land Rover.

AllFocal's thin nanophotonic lenses eliminate the vergence-accommodation conflict — the mismatch between where a user's eyes are pointing and what they are focusing on — that causes nausea and discomfort in most current VR and AR devices. The technology is compatible with LCD, OLED and any display type, and has applications in consumer headsets, automotive heads-up displays, medical smart glasses and defence visors. AllFocal aims to be the first company in the world to commercialise this approach at scale.