Era Raises $11 Million to Power the Next Generation of AI Devices

Earlier this month, Era hosted an event in New York where artists showcased experimental AI-powered gadgets built using the company’s developer kit. The creations included a France-themed souvenir that shares facts and jokes, a phone-like device that analyzes stock portfolios and humorously predicts when users can quit their jobs, and a gadget that provides real-time air quality insights.

While the devices themselves were experimental, they all relied on Era’s core platform — a software layer designed to help hardware makers build AI agents and orchestrate intelligent features for connected devices. Rather than manufacturing hardware itself, Era aims to empower developers and device makers with tools for tasks such as custom voice creation and embedding AI capabilities into products like headphones and wearable devices.

The startup has raised $11 million to date, including a $9 million seed round led by Abstract Ventures and BoxGroup, with participation from Collaborative Fund and Mozilla Ventures. Before that, Era secured $2 million in pre-seed funding from Topology Ventures and Betaworks.

Notable angel investors include Caterina Fake, Ken Kocienda, Tony Wang, Daniel Kuntz, Mina Fahmi, ShaoBo Z, and Kelin Zhang.

Era was founded in 2025 by CEO Liz Dorman, CTO Alex Ollman, and CPO Megan Gole. Dorman previously worked on AI orchestration at Humane before joining HP following Humane’s acquisition. Ollman worked at HP on enterprise agentic frameworks, while Gole previously worked on the io project led by Jony Ive and Sam Altman.

According to Casey Caruso, founder and managing partner of Topology Ventures, Era’s orchestration platform differentiates itself through its ability to dynamically route across AI models while managing real-world limitations such as connectivity issues.

Dorman said Era’s long-term vision is to build the “intelligence layer” for future AI devices that could eventually replace traditional app-based interfaces.

“I think one of the incredible things that we can do with these AI models today is that you can replace that app layer,” Dorman said, arguing that the future of technology should give consumers more choice over the devices they use rather than relying on products designed by a small group of tech companies.

Currently, Era supports more than 130 large language models from over 14 providers, enabling developers to build AI-powered products across multiple form factors, including smart glasses, jewelry, and home speakers. The company believes the rise of diverse AI hardware categories will create demand for a flexible software layer capable of handling multimodal inputs and AI inference at scale.

Dorman described the future AI hardware market as a potential “Cambrian explosion” of devices, driven by increasingly commoditized technology and expanding experimentation in hardware design. She added that Era’s platform is built to scale across millions of devices while also supporting highly customized AI products tailored to niche user communities.

The startup also plans to expand access to its platform for open-source developers and maker communities, encouraging experimentation with new AI-powered device concepts.

Despite growing interest in AI hardware, the sector remains largely unproven. Humane was acquired by HP, while Rabbit has remained relatively quiet in recent months. Other startups such as Plaud, Sandbar, and Taya are still in the early stages of building sustainable businesses. Even so, Era believes growing consumer exposure to AI-powered gadgets will eventually lead to lasting adoption for some categories of devices.