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14 May 2019
Tekcapital Plc
("Tekcapital", the "Company" or "the Group")
Portfolio Company Update: Lucyd Launches Loud 2.0 Eyewear Line
Tekcapital Plc (AIM: TEK), the UK intellectual property (IP) investment group focused on creating marketplace value from investing in university technology, is pleased to announce that portfolio company Lucyd Ltd, the developer of an eShop for innovative eyewear, has launched Loud 2.0, its new line of prescription-ready Bluetooth® music glasses.
Lucyd's new collection offers 10 exclusive, fashion-forward designs, coupled with more than 20 different types of proper corrective lenses, all day battery life, and a host of useful features.
Lucyd Loud correct your vision and are Bluetooth-enabled, making it possible to listen to music, make phone calls and use voice assistants from your prescription glasses. The voice assistant function enables a number of useful apps to be used handsfree, such as Uber® and Cashapp®. It's perfect for cyclists, runners, athletes and people on the go, because you can still hear what's happening around you, while listening to your tunes and staying connected. As a result of their bone conducting feature, they're also great for any situation where you want your music, but don't want to carry or use headphones.
The Market
Lucyd is positioned at the intersection of the online eyewear and digital assistant markets. Online eyewear sales in the U.K. are projected to reach $588m in 2019.1 The U.S. online eyewear market is projected to reach US$3.5b in 2019 and expected to grow annually by 1.3% (CAGR 2019-2023)2. In the U.S., approximately eight million pairs of prescription eyeglasses are sold online each year.3 Global use of digital assistants such as Siri®, Google Voice® and Alexa® is growing rapidly, and expected to reach 3.25b users in 2019 and 4b users in 2020.4
Harrison Gross, Co-founder at Lucyd said, "We are pleased to announce the introduction of Loud 2.0 designer music glasses in 10 beautiful colours and patterns. We believe these new patent-pending glasses set the standard for design, comfort and all day use for prescription Bluetooth® specs, at an incredibly attractive price."
About Lucyd
The mission of Lucyd is to enhance the visual experience. Lucyd is pioneering a new market for prescription-ready, tech-enhanced glasses, and operates an eShop for innovative eyewear. To learn more please visit https://lucyd.co.
Dr Clifford Gross, Chairman at Tekcapital commented: "We are delighted to see the continuing progress of Lucyd with their launch of Loud 2.0. We believe that Lucyd is well positioned to see growth of its products in the new segment it has pioneered -- online prescription eyewear that enables the use of digital assistants."
For further information, please contact:
Tekcapital Plc | Via Yellow Jersey PR |
Clifford M. Gross, Ph.D. | |
finnCap Ltd (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker) | +44 (0) 20 7220 0500 |
Geoff Nash/ Max Bullen-Smith (Corporate Finance) | |
Camille Gochez (ECM) | |
Novum Securities Limited (Joint Broker) | +44 (0) 20 7399 9427 |
Colin Rowbury (Corporate Broking) | |
Yellow Jersey Limited | +44 (0) 20 7933 8780 |
Tim Thompson / Annabel Atkins | tekcapital@yellowjerseypr.com |
About Tekcapital plc
Tekcapital creates value from investing in new, university-developed intellectual properties and provides a range of IP investment services to make it easy for organisations to commercialise university-developed technology. Tekcapital is quoted on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange (AIM: symbol TEK) and is headquartered in Oxford, in the UK. For more information, please visit www.tekcapital.com
LEI: 213800GOJTOV19FIFZ85
This press release is for informational purposes only. The information herein does not constitute investment advice nor an offer to invest and may contain statements related to our future business and financial performance and future events or developments involving Lucyd or Tekcapital that may constitute forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by words such as "expect," "look forward to," "anticipate" "intend," "plan," "believe," "seek," "estimate," "will," "project" or words of similar meaning. We may also make forward-looking statements in other reports, in presentations, in material delivered to customers, stakeholders and in press releases. In addition, our representatives may from time to time make oral forward-looking statements. Such statements may be based on the current expectations and certain assumptions of Tekcapital's or Lucyd's management. Please note that these are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and factors, including, but not limited to those described in various disclosures. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying expectations not occur or assumptions prove incorrect, actual results, performance or achievements of Tekcapital or Lucyd may vary materially from those described explicitly or implicitly in the relevant forward-looking statement. Neither Tekcapital nor Lucyd intends, nor assumes any obligation, to update or revise these forward-looking statements in light of developments which differ from those anticipated.
References
1 https://www.statista.com/outlook/12000000/156/eyewear/united-kingdom
2https://www.statista.com/outlook/12000000/109/eyewear/united-states
3https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardkestenbaum/2018/04/24/online-eyeglasses-has-explosive-growth-ahead-of-it/#1710cf9627c8
4https://www.statista.com/statistics/973815/worldwide-digital-voice-assistant-in-use/