Investment marks Mixel Studio’s third institutional backing and strengthens its connection to Michigan’s growing technology and venture ecosystem
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — July 2026 — Mixel Studio, Inc., creator of the human-centered spatial computing platform OXR, today announced that it has secured an investment from Union Heritage Ventures and joined the firm’s portfolio. The investment marks Mixel Studio’s third institutional backing, following investments from the University of Michigan’s Zell Founders Fund through the Desai Accelerator and MSU Red Cedar Ventures through the Conquer Accelerator. It represents another important step in the company’s transition from a university-born venture into a growing Michigan technology company.
Mixel Studio’s journey began at the University of Michigan, where the founding team received early support through the Zell Lurie Institute’s entrepreneurship programs and won the grand prize in the School of Education’s James A. Kelly Learning Levers Competition—funding that helped seed the company’s development. Over the following year, the team built and piloted OXR across K–12 schools, higher-education institutions, museums, and community programs, continuously testing and refining the platform alongside educators and other end users. In early 2026, Mixel Studio joined the Michigan Founders Fund Pre-Accelerator, powered by gener8tor, helping the company move beyond the university environment and establish stronger connections across Michigan’s startup ecosystem. The company first connected with Union Heritage through this expanding network, began formal due diligence in April, and completed the investment in July.
Union Heritage Ventures brings the experience of a Michigan-based diversified financial-services organization with more than 35 years of investment-management history. Its venture practice applies disciplined investment evaluation while providing portfolio companies with support across fundraising preparation, financial planning, sales strategy, marketing, branding, and legal and operational readiness. Union Heritage focuses on early-stage companies in areas including healthcare, advanced manufacturing, climate technology, and the future of transportation, while emphasizing inclusive capital and positive community impact. These values align closely with Mixel Studio’s founding belief that spatial computing should be intuitive and accessible to people without specialized technical expertise.
Mixel Studio joins a portfolio of companies addressing significant challenges across healthcare, biotechnology, environmental technology, infrastructure, and emerging media. These include Chiyo, a women’s health nutrition company acquired by food-is-medicine company Epicured in February 2026; CircNova, which applies artificial intelligence to RNA drug discovery; Maka Kids, a children’s media platform designed around healthy development rather than maximizing engagement; and Kall Morris Inc., which is developing solutions for orbital debris.
“We are especially proud to be backed by an investment firm whose values align so closely with our own,” said Chiao Lin, co-founder and CEO of Mixel Studio. “At Mixel Studio, our goal has never been to build technology simply for the sake of innovation. We want to create technology that is accessible, human-centered, and capable of making a meaningful, positive impact on society. That belief has been at the heart of OXR from the beginning, and it continues to drive how hard we work and how we make decisions as a company.”
“We also owe so much to Michigan—from my first scholarship to my first company and first venture capital investment. People often say it takes a village to raise a child; I believe it takes an entire ecosystem to build a founder. We are deeply grateful to every educator, mentor, institution, investor, teammate, and community member who has supported us along the way. Joining Union Heritage’s portfolio is not the destination; it is the beginning of our next stage of growth.”
Mixel Studio, Inc. is a Michigan-based XR company building OXR, a spatial presentation platform that helps teams create, manage, and present immersive 3D content across web browsers, mobile devices, XR headsets, and future AR glasses. OXR is designed to make spatial communication accessible, scalable, and easy to deploy.
