Glassless selected to pitch at Startup World Cup Milan

A day for Milan's startup ecosystem

The event brought together early-stage founders, investors, students and members of Milan's technology ecosystem for a day focused on entrepreneurship, venture capital and emerging innovation. More than 350 people registered for the 2026 edition, with participating startups pitching in front of a jury of investors and industry professionals from organisations including Italian Founders Fund, 2100 Ventures, Primo Capital, Startup Geeks and United Ventures.

Road to the Grand Finale in San Francisco

The Milan event also served as the Italian regional competition of the Startup World Cup, a global startup competition organised by Pegasus Tech Ventures. The 2026 programme spans regional competitions across more than 60 countries, with regional winners progressing through the competition towards the Startup World Cup Grand Finale in San Francisco in November 2026, where the overall winner will compete for a US$1 million investment prize.

Vision correction as software, on stage

Selected from the Italian startup ecosystem to present at the Milan regional, Glassless used the opportunity to introduce its approach to one of the most widespread effects of ageing: presbyopia, the gradual loss of the ability to focus on nearby objects. Learn more in our guide to what presbyopia is and what can be done about it.

Glassless is developing software that pre-compensates digital content for a user's visual impairment. Rather than changing the physical optics of a device, the technology modifies the image displayed on the screen so that, after passing through an individual's visual system, the resulting image can appear sharper to the user.

The company presented its vision-correcting technology and its progress towards making the system operate dynamically on digital devices. The approach is designed to address a problem traditionally solved through corrective lenses, while exploring the possibility of delivering visual assistance directly through software.

For Glassless, the Startup World Cup stage represented an opportunity to bring its technology to an international audience while connecting with investors and other participants in the European startup ecosystem.

“Representing Italy at this stage matters to us. We are building deep technology out of Italy, and forums like this are where that becomes visible. We are taking a problem that has traditionally been solved with lenses and exploring what becomes possible when vision correction becomes software.”

From validation to commercial applications

The event also marked another step in Glassless' development as it moves from technology validation towards commercial applications. The company has completed human validation across two studies involving 31 participants and is currently exploring partnerships to integrate its vision-correcting software into digital applications and devices, with the aim of enabling people aged 40 and over to interact with digital content without relying on reading glasses.

About Startup World Cup

Startup World Cup is a global startup competition organised by Pegasus Tech Ventures, with regional competitions connecting startups with investors, entrepreneurs and technology ecosystems around the world. The 2026 competition includes regional events across multiple continents, culminating in the Grand Finale in San Francisco in November.

About Glassless

Glassless is developing vision-correcting software designed to enable people with presbyopia to interact with digital devices without reading glasses. The technology pre-compensates digital content for the user's visual impairment, with the aim of integrating directly into smartphones, applications and other digital platforms.