Essilor International

So, you know, we get some fantastic support from a lot of companies.

This year, these key sponsors, which are Specsavers, Numedica and Essilor, they're also sponsoring the students to travel to the event.

So on the 13th of March, which is for third and fourth years, it's an in-person competition.

We do one in the North, one in the South.

I think they're in trouble.

You know, look at what you, we could talk about what Essilor has already said they're doing.

Essilor is going to get in the surgery business.

They're already in the ownership of practice business.

They're already your supplier and your competitor.

Many of your listeners may know John.

He was the president of Essilor as they came together with Luxottica many years ago.

And John has got a long career in healthcare.

And Jeff Poe came from more the provider side.

They just stall.

Is the doctors that engage their whole team to be part of it versus those that try to just do it all themselves? And that's a really difficult thing to do.

And whole team, is that everybody on staff or is that just like my myopia coordinator? If I can find one, my tech, my optician, especially with Essilor and Stelest being an option now, is that like concentrated on a dedicated team or make sure everybody at the practice can at least engage with the patient in a baseline myopia conversation?

Yeah, it's a whole practice approach.

Oh, very cool.

And then the Essilor Stellest, which is the lenses that slow nearsightedness.

And-

Oh, we did ta- those were great.

So, so cool.

Yeah.

I just looked at this Essilor Stellest.

What a cool product.

There were two companies, and we've touched on this in some capacity already, that, you know, were leading the, the charge.

Essilor we've mentioned, and SOLA.

We have spoken obviously in those early days, uh, with regards to what the rivalry was like, and obviously early on it was quite...

You, you said it was, it was, it was all good.

But, um, both, uh, the, the Pilkington days and the AEA Investor days were much more involved in direct head-on-

Mm-hmm

... competition with Essilor, and indeed, um, you know, it had, had really major implications.

The information I have about those stages, there's quite a lot of information available.

Technology, and they've expressed interest in, in working with us to distribute and manufacture the device.

Uh, Essilor is one of y, you know, is the leader globally in eyeglass lens manufacturing, and they've expressed interest in potentially working with us after our clinical trials, uh, given part of the new strategy of, of really targeting and expanding to the base of the pyramid.

The other providers and organizations that you see there, we've also had a number of conversations with, and they've also expressed interest in the direction, uh, Plan Optica is going in the QuickSee product.

So you see a number of eye care providers, uh, a number of, uh, both social, social investment firm and then a venture capital firm, and a number of eyeglass manufacturers.