About us
We started our company to shatter those smudged windows and bring some color into the contact lens world.
Who We Are
I’m Alex and I’m Alice. We’re siblings, entrepreneurs, and above all, relentless optimists.
Growing up, we both struggled with vision problems that required wearing glasses or contacts from an early age. As teens, we saved up our allowance to buy colored contacts that let us change our eye color for fun. We realized then how transformative it felt to change even a small detail of our appearance.
Later in college, we talked often about starting a company together someday. One night over dinner, we had the spark that led to our current venture. We were complaining about the rising costs of contact lenses and lack of innovation from big manufacturers. That’s when the idea hit us: launch a colorful, affordable contact lens company that empowers people to make a statement, not just correct their vision.
We knew it wouldn’t be easy to break into the oligopoly of the contact lens industry. But we were determined to bring change, creativity, and cost-savings to consumers. So we developed a plan, reached out to manufacturing partners, and took the leap into entrepreneurship.
Why Colored Lenses?
Colored contact lenses allow you to transform your look in an instant. Want to try a dramatic eye color change? Go from brown to blue in a flash. Feel like sporting cat eyes for a costume party? Now you can with colored lenses.
Beyond the fun factor, colored contacts also appeal to those seeking a subtle enhancement of their natural eye color. For example, lightening a dark brown to a honey tone, or adding a limbal ring to make blue eyes pop.
The use cases go well beyond cosmetic appeal. Colored contacts enable medical applications like ocular prosthetics. They can also provide UV eye protection when formulated with protective filters.
Overall, contact lens color options empower personal expression, boost self-confidence, address medical needs, and expand the definition of beauty. The possibilities are endless when you view contact lenses as a cosmetic accessory, not just a medical device.
Why Now?
Advances in contact lens technology and manufacturing make this the perfect time to launch our colorful vision.
When we started digging into the contact lens industry, we found a white space in the market. The products available were outdated and uninspired. Clear vision correction lenses dominate the market, while color contacts get treated as a niche novelty.
But the demand for color and self-expression is strong. In a survey we conducted of 18-35 year olds, over 85% said they would be interested in colored contact lenses if the cost was comparable to clear ones. Additionally, 72% wanted more dramatic color options beyond just enhancing their natural eye color.
This disconnect between consumer demand and lack of quality, affordable colored lenses represents a huge opportunity. With recent advances in materials science and lens fabrication methods, we can now offer durable, vibrant color lenses direct to consumers at disruptive prices. The technology has finally caught up with people’s desires.
Our Vision
We envision a future where colored contact lenses are a fun, accessible way to transform your look, not a rarely-used specialty item.
Almost like makeup for your eyes, our color contacts will empower self-expression and exploration. We want to help you feel confident and comfortable trying new colors, knowing our lenses are high quality and affordable.
Whether you’re looking to make a subtle change or really stand out in a crowd, our lenses enable it all. We offer the widest color selection on the market, with exotic options well beyond the usual browns, blues, greens and grays. We’re talking rich metallic, pastel, and even patterned designs.
While expanding the color palette, we also intend to lower costs dramatically. Our direct-to-consumer business model provides savings up to 75% versus traditional contact lens brands. We envision a day when exciting color contacts cost about the same as a mainstream clear lens – making them an easy, regular purchase rather than a splurge.
Throughout our rapid growth, we’ll never lose sight of our commitment to quality. All our lenses are made in state-of-the-art facilities and undergo rigorous safety testing. Because eye health should never be sacrificed in pursuit of style.
In summary, our vision is a world where colored contacts are:
– Accessible – affordable pricing, easy online ordering
– High Quality – rigorously tested for safety and durability
– On Trend – styles that anticipate and lead markets
– Empowering – a fun way to transform your look on your terms
Our Progress So Far
Over the past two years, we’ve worked tirelessly to turn our vision into reality:
– We partnered with top global contact lens manufactures to produce our designed portfolio of daily disposables, multi-week lenses, and prosthetic special effects lenses.
– We recruited renowned ophthalmologists and product engineers to consult on our lens formulations, safety testing, and manufacturing.
– We sourced high-quality materials like patented color-changing polymers and custom color pigments for vibrant, durable color.
– We perfected our direct-to-consumer ecommerce operations, allowing customers to easily select, customize, and order lenses online.
– We developed breakthrough techniques to quickly and efficiently fabricate small batches of new color designs in response to consumer feedback. This agility keeps our styles fresh and exciting.
– We established a world-class fulfillment center to ship lenses directly to customers in minimal time.
– We grew our team to over 50 passionate staff across technology, marketing, operations, and community engagement roles.
– We successfully closed a $7 million Series A funding round to fuel our expansion plans.
– Most importantly, we soft-launched our online store 6 months ago. Since then, over 20,000 customers have discovered the joy, confidence, and freedom that comes with our color contact lenses.
This is just the beginning. In the next phase of growth, we will:
– Increase our color portfolio from 100 options to over 500
– Expand internationally to serve customers in over 15 countries
– Grow our community to over 500,000 color contact lens customers
– Drive costs down by an additional 20%, passing the savings to customers
– Refine our data and analytics capabilities to understand buyer behavior and preferences
– Invest in new technologies like augmented reality to enhance the online purchase experience
– Maintain our commitment to sustainability through eco-friendly packaging and manufacturing
With your support, we know we will transform the stale contact lens industry and bring vibrancy and self-expression into focus. Please join us on this journey!
Our Team
While Alex and I founded the company, we now have an incredible team of 50 employees who embrace our vision and bring invaluable energy and expertise.
Our staff includes:
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– Ophthalmologists and optometrists: Ensuring our lenses match or exceed industry safety standards
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– Contact lens chemists: Developing next-gen materials and coatings for comfort and durability
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– Manufacturing engineers: Overseeing production processes and quality control
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– eCommerce gurus: Managing our online store and the end-to-end customer experience
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– Graphic designers: Conceptualizing on-trend color patterns and effects
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– Marketing wizards: Building our community and promoting our mission
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– Fulfillment ninjas: Providing speedy order delivery logistics
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– Customer care advocates: Providing exceptional support pre-and post purchase
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– Business operations pros: Leading finance, HR, legal and other operational functions
We’ve also partnered with influencers and eye doctors globally to promote our products and help educate about the safe use of color contact lenses.
This talented team enables us to keep innovating while scaling responsibly. We’re so grateful for their passion and talents.
Our Manufacturing Partners
To produce our next-generation color contact lenses, we collaborated with three industry-leading manufacturing partners in the US, Europe, and Asia.
These partners provide access to state-of-the-art facilities, safety testing labs, and technical expertise. Their global footprint enables us to efficiently deliver lenses to customers around the world.
We maintain tight oversight of the entire manufacturing process through onsite quality inspections, safety audits, and by assigning staff to each facility. This hands-on approach ensures all lenses meet our rigorous standards.
Our manufacturing relationships also allow us to nimbly develop new colors and manage surges in demand. We can quickly ramp production across different geographies. This flexibility helps us stay at the forefront of color contact lens trends.
While some competitors try to hide their manufacturing partners, we proudly share these collaborations. Our customers deserve to know who makes their lenses and where. We hold ourselves and our partners to the highest standards of ethics, quality, and transparency.
The Road Ahead
We’ve made tremendous progress since our founding two years ago. But we’ve only scratched the surface of what’s possible.