Sponsored by Dompé, the Optometry Innovation Awards will offer $20,000 to winners.
San Diego, California – May 28, 2024 – Eyes On Eyecare® today announced its continuing commitment to catalyze innovations in optometry with the Third Annual Optometry Innovation Awards (OIA). Exclusively sponsored by Dompé, the awards recognize and encourage transformative advances in eyecare by bringing together optometry students, optometrist problem-solvers, and creators from across the U.S. and Canada.
Eyes On Eyecare will award $10,000 to the first-place winner, $6,000 to second place, and $4,000 to third place, which can be used to advance their innovations to market.
“With OIA we aren’t celebrating new innovations,” said Matt Geller, co-founder and CEO, Eyes On Eyecare. “We’re recognizing visionaries who had an idea they were brave enough to bring to life for the benefit of others. Even if it’s written on a napkin, ideas have tremendous potential to impact our industry and evolve patient care.”
Pitches are currently being accepted by an expert panel of judges with decades of combined experience in the eyecare space as well as entrepreneurs with a focus in start-ups and bringing new concepts to the eyecare market.
The deadline to submit an idea is July 31, 2024. After the judges’ decisions, finalists will be notified by August 19, 2024, and winners will be honored live at Eyes On 2025, held November 15-16, 2024.
Last year’s winner was optometry student, Mariam Labib, who developed a breakthrough virtual reality software designed to elevate the visual system during athletic performance and empower athletes to reach their full potential.
To apply, concepts must fall into one of the following areas of innovation: 1. Improving patient care
2. Enhancing workflow and efficiency for optometry practices
3. Elevating the state of the optometric profession
4. Raising awareness among consumers
5. Enhancing educational accessibility within the eyecare community.
Applicants must be an optometrist residing in the United States or Canada or a current optometry student enrolled in an accredited program. All applicants must be willing to submit a finalist video and appear live online at Eyes On 2025—historically known as the largest virtual eyecare event of the year.
Applicants will be judged objectively against the following rubric:
- Quality of presentation and thought process
- Market size and market need
- Benefits to the target audience
- Out-of-the-box thinking for the proposed solution to the problem/differentiation from other solutions
- Financial analysis
- Monetization model
- Competitive analysis
- Team
The deadline to apply is July 31, 2024. All ideas that address these issues are welcome. If you have a pitch to share or want to learn more, please visit: optometryinnovationawards.com.
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About Eyes On Eyecare®
Eyes On Eyecare delivers leading-edge clinical and career education to the next generation of optometrists and ophthalmologists through premier editorial content, agency work, and virtual event symposia including Eyes On Dry Eye, Eyes On Glaucoma, Eyes On Retina, and more. Eyes On Eyecare has more than 75 years of clinical experience supported by ophthalmic key opinion leaders.
Contact Information
Brett Kestenbaum
COO, Eyes On Eyecare
(858) 780-4455