DOT Glasses
BCTA MEMBERSHIP STATUS
Alumni
SECTOR
Health
HEADQUARTERS
Czech Republic
REGION OF INITIATIVE
Africa, Asia & Pacific
SDG CONTRIBUTION
External Article
The Impact Goal
The Czech based company, DOT Glasses, joined Business Call to Action in December 2020 and made a commitment to deliver access to primary vision care to 1 million low-income people and create livelihood opportunities for 4,000 micro-entrepreneurs in India, Bangladesh, Kenya, Ethiopia, Zambia, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana by 2022.
The Market Gap
Vision is the most dominant of our senses and plays a critical role in our lives. Lack of eye health services and spectacles has massive economic consequences to individuals, communities, and states as well as leading to reduced education, employment opportunities, and increased safety risks. Market-based solutions to this problem have been lacking, as none of the providers of vision care to the BoP have been able to offer commercially sustainable solutions that could be scaled without a heavy reliance on subsidies.
The Business Solution
DOT Glasses fills the market gap through its radical solution that uses a simplified lens concept, unique vision tests, and low-cost, one-size-fits-all glasses that allow for mass distribution of fashionable and robust glasses to the last mile BoP on a commercial basis. The company’s solution is based on the principle of “good enough vision”. This means that when delivering basic vision care to poor, remote areas, it’s not necessary to provide perfect vision correction as this is too expensive due to the need of large inventories, highly skilled workers, and two-way logistics with optical labs.
Instead, DOT Glasses offers 6 power lenses to ensure each customer gets to a maximum variance of +/- 0.75 diopters from their “perfect vision”, with an average variance of +/-0.375 diopters. Combined with the patented, adjustable, one-size-fits-all frames made of durable ABS plastic, DOT Glasses delivers a high-quality, durable and fashionable solution that people can wear daily to improve their vision at a fraction of the usual costs.