Mobile Eye Exams by Smart Vision Raises $6.1M
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The ability to bring better health care around the world is innovating fast with improved mobility and technology. Smart Vision is a new tool that will bring basic eye exams to doctor’s smartphones and could save the eyesight of almost 1 billion people around the world. Two former photonics, Zhou Yaopeng and Marc Albanese are the brilliant minds behind the two-year-old startup, Smart Vision Labs. The company recently raised $6.1 million in its first round of official funding led by investors from Techstars Ventures.
Initial research conducted by Zhou and Albanese developed the SVOne, which is a small hardware piece that attaches to an iPhone and provides doctors with the ability to conduct eye exams on the go. The cost of the SVOne is $3,950, which is an incredible feat considering average costs for traditional devices of this nature range from $20,000 to $40,000. The idea won NYU’s Entrepreneur Challenge and later received a $1 million Powerful Answers Aware from Verizon, the new owner of AOL and parent company of TechCrunch.
Most people who use corrective eyewear do not visit the eye doctor as often they should and Smart Vision Labs wants to make the eye exam process as easy as possible for them. The company is already generating revenue selling its devices and has tested it in Mexico, Guatemala, and Haiti. The impressive technology unlocks new possibilities for mobile devices to improve health care delivery by making exams more accessible and even cheaper in the U.S. and eventually worldwide.
Written by Alison Killian
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Alison Killian is a recent graduate of Grove City College who majored in Business Management and minored in Biology Studies. She is a contributor to Medical Groups and passionate about all facets of healthcare. She plans on continuing work in the healthcare field especially in management. She is very interested in healthcare innovation and finding ways to improve the current system. She hopes to go back to school in a few years to earn a degree in medicine.
