SAN DIEGO—Eyes On Eyecare, a digital publication that provides clinical and career education for ODs and ophthalmologists, has announced its third annual Optometry Innovation Awards (OIA). Exclusively sponsored by Dompé, the awards recognize and encourage transformative advances in eyecare by bringing together optometry students, optometrist problem-solvers and creators from across the U.S. and Canada. Eyes On Eyecare will award $10,000 to the first-place winner, $6,000 to second place and $4,000 to third place, which can be used to advance their innovations to market.

To apply, concepts must fall into one of the following areas of innovation:

1. Improving patient care.
2. Enhancing workflow and efficiency for optometry practices.
3. Elevating the state of the optometric profession.
4. Raising awareness among consumers.
5. Enhancing educational accessibility within the eyecare community.


Applicants must be an optometrist residing in the United States or Canada or be a current optometry student enrolled in an accredited program. All applicants must be willing to submit a finalist video and appear live online at Eyes On 2025.

Applicants will be judged objectively against the following rubric:

● Quality of presentation and thought process.
● Market size and market need.
● Benefits to the target audience.
● Out-of-the-box thinking for the proposed solution to the problem/differentiation from other solutions.
● Financial analysis.
● Monetization mode.
● Competitive analysis.
● Team.

An expert panel of judges with decades of combined experience in the eyecare space, as well as entrepreneurs with a focus in start-ups and bringing new concepts to the eyecare market, are currently accepting pitches. The deadline to submit an idea is July 31, 2024. After the judges’ decisions, finalists will be notified by August 19, 2024, and winners will be honored live at Eyes On 2025, scheduled for November 15-16, 2024.

Matt Geller, co-founder and CEO, Eyes On Eyecare, said, “With OIA we aren’t celebrating new innovations. We’re recognizing visionaries who had an idea they were brave enough to bring to life for the benefit of others. Even if it’s written on a napkin, ideas have tremendous potential to impact our industry and evolve patient care.”

Interested applicants can click here to make submissions.