More than half of Americans wear prescription glasses or contact lenses. While there is no shortage of low cost and luxurious frames online or in stores, consumers can only purchase them with a current glasses prescription.
This means that to get a prescription, they have to first have their eyesight checked by an ophthalmologist. But for the sake of nationwide lack of ophthalmology specialistsit could take weeks to get an appointment, especially in rural areas.
Okobot, a recent startup that comes out of hiding on Thursday, wants to scale back the time needed for an eye exam to about 90 seconds without the direct involvement of an optician. Starting in October, the Boston-based company will deploy self-service vision testing terminals in shopping malls, grocery stores and pharmacies in New England.
Anyone who wants to ascertain their eyesight can walk as much as the one-and-a-half-meter Eyebot kiosk and press a button, and the company’s computer technology will robotically scan the person’s eyes and take a prescription for glasses or contact lenses. (Although Eyebot cannot pre-fit contact lenses, it could update an existing prescription.)
Eyebot founder and CEO Matthias Hofmann said he developed similar technology 10 years ago at EyeNtra, a startup that used smartphones to have your eyesight checked. According to Hofmann, who worked there as chief engineer until 2015, EyeNtra went bankrupt a few years ago.
“We realized that using smartphones wasn’t really the solution,” said Hofmann, who was a postdoctoral researcher in mammography at Harvard Medical School before joining EyeNetra. “People want a fully automated environment where they don’t have to learn or do anything complicated. Our technology now allows people to simply stand in front of our devices.”
Eyebot-generated prescriptions are finalized by teledoctors inside 24 hours, and consumers who need to buy glasses from any retailer must pay $30 for the test. However, if they purchase glasses from one of Eyebot’s partner brands, the eye test is free. Hofmann said the technology is registered with the FDA.
The company hopes that major eyewear brands will rent Eyebot terminals and place them in retail locations of their alternative. After completing the exam, the buyer can determine to buy the glasses of a given brand directly on the touch screen at the kiosk or using a smartphone. Eyebot plans to make money by partnering with these eyewear brands and taking a commission on each sale.
“Retailers are looking for new channels to reach customers,” Hofmann said. “Now they have the opportunity to showcase their brand at CVS, Walgreens, Stop and Shop, Kroger and on college campuses.”
Hofmann said Eyebot is near finalizing partnerships with several large eyewear and contact lens retailers. “It’s a very lucrative model. The demand for what we do is very high.”
Demand for investment in Eyebot’s seed round was also high, in response to Hofmann. On Thursday, the company announced a $6 million led financing round AlleyCorp AND Ubiquitous ventures with participation from Humba’s ventures, Global village, architecture, RavelinaAND Cosmonaut.
The capital might be used to expand into other geographic areas.