All Corporate articles – Page 2
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ArticleAspiring smart-glasses producer raises $250m
The start-up known as Sesame, or Sesame AI, has raised $250 million in Series B funding, according to TechCrunch. The round was led by Spark Capital and Sequoia Capital, with undisclosed other investors taking part. Sesame was founded in 2023 but came to public attention this past February, when it ...
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Lenskart IPO kicks off on Oct. 31
Indian-based optical retail group Lenskart’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) is scheduled to take place from Oct. 31 to Nov.4 with institutional investors getting a head start on Oct. 30. The group has set a price range of between 382 and 402 rupees (€3.7-€3.9) per share corresponding to a maximum fundraising ...
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ArticleTopcon launches global oculomics platform, bolsters Harmony in Europe
Hardly a week goes by without Topcon Healthcare, a US subsidiary of Japan-based Topcon Corporation, announcing a new acquisition or initiative in the domain of oculomics, i.e. “the blending of big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and ocular imaging to identify retinal biomarkers of systemic disease” by the definition of ...
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ArticleModo gets $100m cash injection
House of Modo, the US-Italo group behind the Modo and Eco eyewear brands, has raised $100 million in a minority investment round led by Valiant Asset Management, an alternative credit investment firm focusing on the Western European corporate middle market and established in London in 2023. House of ...
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Alcon secures incentives to move two manufacturing lines from Europe to Fort Worth HQ
Alcon has secured up to $6 million in grants to relocate two contracted European manufacturing lines to the eyecare company’s headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. The incentive package was recently approved by the Fort Worth City Council as part of an economic development program agreement with Alcon that is in ...
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Lenskart’s IPO gets approval from India’s financial watch dog
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the country’s financial watch dog has approved Lenskart’s initial public offering (IPO), The Economic Times and other Indian business news outlets have reported. The retail group is now reportedly targeting to go public around mid-November. The company is aiming to raise 2,150 ...
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ArticleEssilux becomes Nikon’s largest shareholder, gets up-to-20% greenlight
Nikon Corporation officially announced today that EssilorLuxottica has become its largest shareholder with a 10.75 percent stake as of Oct. 1, 2025, up from 9.68 percent on Sept. 10. The eyewear industry behemoth has been progressively building up its stake in the Japanese group in recent months, rising from the ...
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ArticleFielmann details 2030 strategic plan at Capital Markets Day
Following the announcement of the main lines of its 2030 strategic plans in July, Fielmann Group released more details on how it plans to reach the new targets at a Capital Markets Day (CMD) held last week. As we have already reported, the German-based retail group is planning to increase ...
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Article1.2m subscribers and 90 new stores among Synsam Group’s midterm targets update
Synsam Group, the leading optical retailer in Northern Europe, announced new mid-term financial and operational targets at a Capital Markets Day (CMD) earlier this week. The first focus point for the group in its presentation was Synsam Lifestyle (SL), its subscription service for eyeglasses. As we previously reported, ...
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Gentle Monster owner valuation reportedly hits €2bn
According to reports in Pulse and other South Korean business news outlets, IICOMBINED, the Korean group operating the Gentle Monster eyewear brand, has seen its valuation reach 3.3 trillion Korean won (€2bn). The calculation is based on the amount of recent transaction between Chinese private equity firms for a 1.9 ...
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Quanta completes $20m investment in Vuzix
Vuzix, the US-based manufacturer of smart eyewear and waveguides, announced yesterday that it has received the final tranche of Quanta Computer’s $20 million investment after it met the Taiwanese IT group’s production targets. The initial agreement between the two companies was signed one year ago. ”Our additional investment in Vuzix ...
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ArticleJapan’s top retailer builds 'open factory' to tackle procurement issues and 'transmit the joy of craftsmanship'
Megane Ichiba, Japan’s leading optical retailer under the Megane Top brand, is investing 4.4 billion Japanese yen (€25m) in the extension of its manufacturing plant in Sabae, Fukui prefecture. The group stressed that its investment was aimed at both tackling procurement issues and revitalizing the region. The construction of the ...
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ArticleCapital increase to enable Multiópticas to expand
Multiópticas secured in August a capital increase of €45 million from its own shareholders and intends to use the funds to carry out a five-year plan to spread out the business, according to the Spanish paper Expansión. “The company’s own shareholders have trusted in this project and disbursed the capital, ...
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ArticleGiorgio Armani leaves instructions for the sale of his group
The Italian fashion house Giorgio Armani SpA should sell a 15 percent stake to the French luxury goods group LVMH, the Franco-Italian eyewear group EssilorLuxottica, the French beauty and cosmetics group L’Oréal or another luxury group in the next 12 to 18 months, the designer Giorgio Armani has stipulated in ...
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Mondottica takes full control of German distribution following Menrad’s bankruptcy
As was widely expected, Mondottica Group has acquired the 50 percent share held by its longtime partner MENRAD in Mondottica Deutschland, their distribution joint venture established in 2014. PLUTA Rechtanwalts, the insolvency administrator has also announced that Menrad do Brasil Comercio de Produtos Opticos, the group’s subsidiary in ...
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Wagner + Kühner is closing its operations
Wagner + Kühner, a German eyewear company founded in 1945, will cease its activity later this month, the company has announced in a letter to its customers according to DOZ Verlag. As we reported then, the streamlining of the company’s operations enabled it to pursue its business after insolvency proceedings ...
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Reshuffle at Carl Zeiss AG executive board
Dr. Jochen Peter, responsible for the ZEISS Industrial Quality & Research (IQR) segment, will step down at this own request from the executive board of Carl Zeiss AG on Sept. 30, 2025, the company has announced. He will be replaced by Dr. Marc Wawerla, currently Head of the ZEISS Industrial ...
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Article“It seems the industry is ripe for change,” Flō Optics CEO
Things went relatively fast for Flō Optics. Only 15 months after the Israeli-based startup first showcased its optical coatings 3D printing technology at Vision Expo West in November 2023, it announced a $35 million Series A funding round, including from several eyewear industry players. However, when we sat down with ...
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ArticleFielmann enters new HQ on a strong footing
Fielmann Group has confirmed that its consolidated sales for the first half of 2025 increased by 12.3 percent to €1,224 million, in line with the preliminary results announced in July together with the company’s 2030 strategic plan. We focus in this article on the new financial information released by the ...
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ArticleEssilux ups stake in Nikon again, but further steps will require Japan’s green light
Bis repetita, but with a stronger magnitude this time. On Oct. 7 last year, Nikon’s stock value jumped by 8 percent as it emerged from an official filing at a regional finance bureau that EssilorLuxottica had increased its stake in the Japanese group to 5.10 percent. Yesterday (Aug. 27), it ...
