Tekcapital Plc (AIM: TEK, OTCQB: TEKCF), the UK intellectual property investment group is pleased to announce Innovative Eyewear, Inc. (“Innovative Eyewear”) (NASDAQ: LUCY; LUCYW), a developer and retailer of cutting-edge smart eyewear and a subsidiary of portfolio company Lucyd Ltd, is pleased to announce that it has added two eyewear industry veterans, with deep international experience, to its executive team.
Mr. Ekene Ofodile, a respected business Leader with over 20 years of experience in Global Sales, Sales Operations and Business Management has joined the company as Sr. Vice President, Sales and Marketing. Ekene has a demonstrated ability to work across all levels of an organization to develop high performance partnerships that drive profitable revenue growth.
Most recently, Ekene served as the Head of Sales, North America for a portfolio of outdoor and work wearable brands acquired from Honeywell International by Rocky Brands, Inc. From 2018 – 2021, he held the position of Director of Strategic Account Sales at Honeywell International’s Safety & Productivity Services Retail division driving global growth of footwear, PPE, hearing & vision protection products within high volume key accounts.
Ekene previously served at Randolph Engineering Eyewear Inc.as its Senior Vice President, Global Sales & Marketing, where he spent 4 years developing and executing strategic growth plans for the Randolph and Ranger Eyewear Brands. Prior to Randolph Engineering, Ekene spent 15 years at New Balance Athletics as Head of International Sales Operations.
“I believe Harrison Gross & the Innovative Eyewear team are disrupting the eyewear industry with smart frame technology. I am thrilled to be joining the Company at this pivotal moment and look forward to contributing to its very bright future” said Mr. Ofodile.
Jan Cory has also joined the company as VP of Global Optical Sales and Marketing. With many successful years as part of the optical community, Jan is charged with further developing this important channel of trade for Innovative Eyewear.
Jan began her optical career in frames at Bausch + Lomb where, after its acquisition by Luxottica, she spent 12 years. Her more recent experience is as Chief Commercial Officer at I-deal Optics, Holdings, Senior Director at IDOC (an optometry alliance), US President at Silhouette International, and Sr. Vice President of Sales for US and Canada at Viva/Marcolin.
Jan was named by Vision Monday as one of the Most Influential Women in Optical in 2015. She proudly serves on the Board of the Optical Women’s Association
“Innovative Eyewear brings incredible innovation to eyewear. I’m thrilled to share this cutting-edge technology with the ECP, and I’m excited to be part of the future,” said Ms. Cory.
“We are excited and honored to add both Ekene and Jan to our management team,” said Harrison Gross, CEO of Innovative Eyewear, Inc. “Their combined eyewear industry knowledge and track record of developing significant sales should help us rapidly scale our smart eyewear business in both retail optical and non-optical channels worldwide.”
About Innovative Eyewear, Inc.
Innovative Eyewear is a developer and retailer of smart eyewear, which are designed to allow the users to remain connected to their digital lives, while also offering prescription eyewear and sun protection. The Company believes that traditional frames, no matter how attractive, do not possess the functionality that many eyeglass wearers need and want. Smart eyewear is a multifunctional product that addresses the needs of the optical, hearables and digital assistant markets. We believe that the Company’s products are well positioned in this rapidly growing wearables ecosystem, with the mission to Upgrade Your Eyewear®. For more information, please visit www.lucyd.co
Tekcapital currently owns 100% of the share capital of Lucyd Ltd and 5,189,086 shares (approximately 71%) of its U.S. operating subsidiary, Innovative Eyewear, Inc.
For further information, please contact:
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Tekcapital Plc |
Via Flagstaff |
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Clifford M. Gross, Ph.D. |
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SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nominated Adviser and Broker) |
+44 (0) 20 3470 0470 |
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Richard Morrison/Charlie Bouverat (Corporate Finance)/Abigail Wayne / Rob Rees (Corporate Broking)
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Flagstaff Strategic and Investor Communications |
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+44 (0) 20 7129 1474 |
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Tim Thompson/Andrea Seymour/Fergus Mellon |
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About Tekcapital plc
Tekcapital creates value from investing in new, university-developed discoveries that can enhance people’s lives and provides a range of technology transfer services to help organisations evaluate and commercialise new technologies. Tekcapital is quoted on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange (AIM: symbol TEK) and is headquartered in the UK. For more information, please visit www.tekcapital.com.