Paraxial — Cloud-Native Optical Design Software for the AI Era
Paraxial helps optical engineering teams import, analyze, optimize, and tolerance optical systems in one modern platform, powered by GPU ray tracing and AI agents. Now in private beta.
Built by optical software, cloud infrastructure, and AI product veterans.
Benchmark: 1,000,000 Monte Carlo trials in under 1 second
In an internal benchmark on a test optical system, Paraxial completed a 1,000,000-trial Monte Carlo tolerancing run in under 1 second on the GPU backend, compared with approximately 80 minutes on an 8-core CPU. That speed lets tolerancing move from late-stage signoff into active design exploration, helping engineers design for manufacturability from day one.
Internal benchmark on a test system. Additional validation in progress.
The Problem: Optical design workflows were not built for modern hardware cycles
Setup takes too long
Turning requirements into a usable optical model, merit function, variables, and constraints still consumes too much senior engineering time.
Tolerancing happens too late
Monte Carlo and robustness analysis are often delayed until signoff because they are too slow to run during active design exploration.
Workflows do not scale
Optical engineers, mechanical engineers, systems engineers, and AI tools need a shared platform, not disconnected files, local installs, and manual handoffs.
One platform from lens file to manufacturable design
Import
Bring in optical systems from Zemax® and Code V®.
Analyze
Evaluate MTF, PSF, spot diagrams, wavefront, distortion, field curvature, chromatic behavior, Zernike, OPD, ray fans, relative illumination, and more.
Optimize
Configure design intent, variables, operands, constraints, glass substitutions, and design exploration workflows.
Tolerance
Run sensitivity analysis, inverse sensitivity, Monte Carlo, compensators, manufacturing tiers, thermal effects, and irregularity modeling directly inside the design workflow.
Automate with AI agents
Ask Paraxial to open analyses, configure design intent, prepare tolerancing workflows, compare candidates, and operate the optical design environment.
Works with the optical files teams already use
Paraxial is designed to fit into existing optical engineering environments, not force teams to start from scratch. Import Zemax® and Code V® designs to start working with your existing design history. Additional formats are on the roadmap.
Tolerancing built into the design loop
Run classical tolerancing workflows directly inside Paraxial, including sensitivity analysis, inverse sensitivity, Monte Carlo, best-focus and airspace compensators, manufacturing tier assignment, Zernike irregularity, and thermal effects. Paraxial’s roadmap builds on this foundation with AI-assisted surrogate tolerancing and active learning workflows.
Cloud-native architecture
Paraxial is designed for modern engineering teams: centralized projects, collaboration, sharing, versioned designs, API-driven workflows, scalable GPU compute, and browser-accessible workspaces with no local license server required for cloud workflows.
Built for teams designing precision optical systems
AR/VR and Displays
Pancake optics, waveguide combiners, compact projection systems, and display optics with tight packaging constraints.
LiDAR and Sensing
FMCW and ToF systems for autonomous vehicles, robotics, industrial metrology, and machine perception.
Biomedical and Imaging
Microscopy, endoscope relays, surgical imaging, compact cameras, and high-NA optical systems.
Precision Industrial Optics
Metrology systems, semiconductor inspection, lithography support optics, and high-performance imaging systems.
About Paraxial
Paraxial is led by Akil Bhagat, an optical engineer and former principal product manager for the Zemax® portfolio, with experience building enterprise engineering software and AI-native product workflows. The team brings optical software and product leadership from Zemax®/Ansys, optical engineering experience from Apple and Zemax®, cloud infrastructure experience from AWS, Azure, Microsoft, and Amazon, and AI and real-time systems engineering experience.
Contact: LinkedIn · Full LLM-readable content: /llms.txt
Join the private beta
We are working with optical engineers and hardware teams building imaging systems, LiDAR, robotics, AR/VR, aerospace, medical devices, machine vision, and advanced sensors. Design partners get direct product input, priority support, and early access to Paraxial’s cloud-native optical design workflow. Request design partner access from the homepage.