A new startup accelerator launch in Berlin this week. But while there are accelerators dotted all over Berlin, this one will be ‘laser-focused’ on startups in the area of the human eye.
The EyeFocus Accelerator claims to be world’s first accelerator focussed on eye-care. It plans to invest up to 20,000 Euros into startups that are helping prevent, cure, and live with eye-disease and blindness, and is offering a 3 month accelerator program at Rainmaking Loft Berlin
According to the World Health Organisation, over 280m people are visually impaired. Of these, 39m are totally blind, with the number expected to grow by 1-2m per year. This is 0.7% of the population globally. 90% of the world’s visually impaired live in low-income settings. 80% of all visual impairment can be prevented or cured.
The accelerator is being sponsored by Bayer Healthcare, Zeiss, and Peppermint Venture Partners and run a three-month program in Berlin in the first quarter of 2015, with activities also in London.
The accelerator was founded by Tobias Stone who has worked in fund management, startups, innovation policy, and economic development, and Alejandro Dussan MD, previously Head of EMEA at Bayer Pharma.
We caught up with the founder Stone at the recent Pioneers Festival in Vienna for TCTV.