Gold Coast Start-up Bower Secures $2 Million Funding to Digitise Laboratory Research With Smart Glasses
Australian Financial Review
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Details
- Date Published
- 19 Aug 2026
- Priority Score
- 2
- Australian
- Yes
- Created
- 19 Aug 2026, 08:01 am
Description
A start-up that plans to replace standard laboratory personal protective equipment with smart glasses has won the backing of range of high-profile executives.
Summary
Bower, a Gold Coast-based startup, is developing smart glasses designed to capture and digitize the granular decision-making processes inherent in laboratory experiments. By creating searchable and transferable documentation, the technology aims to improve scientific reproducibility and data integrity in high-stakes research environments. While the primary focus is on laboratory efficiency and digitized workflows, the automation of scientific protocols has downstream implications for the oversight and security of dual-use biological or chemical research. This development highlights the growing role of AI-integrated hardware in frontier laboratory settings within the Australian innovation ecosystem.
Body
TechnologySoftwarePrint articleEmma RapaportTechnology reporterAug 19, 2026 – 9.00amA start-up that plans to replace standard laboratory personal protective equipment with smart glasses, which would capture the hundreds of decisions that go into experiments and turn them into searchable and transferable documentation, has won the backing of a range of executives.The company, known as Bower, has undertaken a $2 million pre-seed round with investors, giving it a valuation of $10 million. Among the investors are Yu Liu, the chief technology officer of Heidi Health; Harry Uffindell, Airbnb’s former head of business operations and strategy; Dean Kelly, a former Eucalyptus-backer; and former Gates Foundation investor Bernhard Hans Weigl.Loading...SaveLog in or Subscribe to save articleShareCopy linkCopiedEmailLinkedInTwitterFacebookCopy linkCopiedShare via...Gift this articleSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? LoginLicense articleRead MoreSoftwareVenture capitalStart-upsFundingFetching latest articles