VSP Vision Innovation Challenge 2025

How might we enhance the eye care experience?

Compete for a chance to present live at Vision Expo West and to be fast-tracked for a $400,000 investment opportunity from Topcon Healthcare.

A comprehensive eye exam offers more than just an assessment of vision — it provides a non-invasive window into overall health.

Recent studies show that external eye imaging can reveal biomarkers associated with various conditions, including liver and kidney function, cognitive health, thyroid health, blood disorders, and more.¹ In addition, eye care providers can detect signs of numerous systemic diseases, including diabetes, high blood pressure, autoimmune issues, and even certain cancers, during routine eye examinations.² However, despite 84 percent of people ranking vision as their most important sense and 97 percent recognizing the importance of healthy eyes, only half schedule an annual eye exam.

As next-gen technologies and research continue to elevate the role the eyes play in preventive care and overall health, it is essential that new solutions emerge that can help scale access to care and enhance patient and provider experiences.

For this reason, VSP Vision, a leader in health-focused vision care, has partnered with MATTER and Topcon Healthcare, Inc. to launch the VSP Vision Innovation Challenge, a global-competition designed to source, spur and support solutions that are enabling this pursuit.

• Expand access to eye care
• Empower patients to proactively manage their eye health and maximize their vision benefits
• Unlock provider efficiencies to help private practice optometrists thrive
• Leverage AI to integrate preventative care and whole-body health into optometry
• Utilize smart eyewear and VR headsets to improve patient outcomes and experiences
• Streamline components of the comprehensive eye exam
• Enhance and optimize the eyewear-buying experience
• And more!

• Later-stage solutions: Vision care companies or digital health platforms with a new eye care feature or vertical that range from seed-to-series A and above. Later stage applicants must be in market.
• Early-stage solutions: Vision care startups that range from pre-seed-to-seed and are mostly pre-revenue.

• All finalists will present live on stage at Vision Expo West (VEW), one of the largest gatherings of vision care executives and professionals in the industry. Finalists will also have the opportunity to attend and demo at VEW.
• Finalists will gain exclusive access to THINC Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Topcon Healthcare, Inc. for personalized strategic guidance and go-to-market support to accelerate their growth.
• Early-stage and pre-revenue finalists will be fast-tracked for consideration to receive a $400,000 convertible note from the THINC Ventures pre-seed program, Cataleyez.
• Growth-stage finalists will have the opportunity to be fast-tracked to present directly to THINC Ventures.
• Finalists will have the opportunity to present to VSP’s Global Innovation Center and enterprise partnerships team for pilot consideration.
• Finalists will gain access to exclusive workshops and receive mentorship from leading vision care, venture capital, and healthcare professionals, along with pitch deck support from MATTER, the VSP Global Innovation Center and THINC Ventures.

“Winning the 2024 VSP Vision Innovation Challenge had a dramatic impact on our company. The entire process helped us to refine our brand story. The event also exposed our business solution to top industry leaders, which resulted in accelerating our commercialization into the U.S. market.”

— Yair Yahav, CEO & Founder of Revital Vision, winner of the 2024 VSP Vision Innovation Challenge

• April 28, 2025: Applications open for the VSP Vision Innovation Challenge
• June 8, 2025: Applications close
• June 9-July 25, 2025: 3 later-stage and 3 early-stage finalists are selected and notified; Cohort is announced
• August 11-September 5, 2025: Finalists participate in a 4-week startup bootcamp to enhance and refine their pitch
• September 19, 2025: Finalists present their solutions in person at Vision Expo West in Las Vegas, Nevada

• Early and late-stage vision care companies enhancing the eye care experience
• Digital health companies that have recently launched a new vision care feature, functionality or vertical
• Startups and technologies with a connection to a trend in VSP Vision’s® ‘Future Eye: 10 Vision Trends Transforming Healthcare’ report, such as a digital therapeutic addressing myopia or smart eyewear with built-in health tracking

Submissions will be evaluated with the following criteria:

• Alignment and focus: Relevance to the challenge statement, solution examples, or ‘Future Eye’ trends
• Novelty and originality: Differentiation of product within the competitive landscape; are there unique technical features or positioning?
• Business model: Articulation of value proposition, cost structure, key resources, customer discovery and validation (marketability, market size)
• Company traction: Ability to cite customers, partnerships, prototypes, pilots or trial data
• Team readiness: Ability and experience of team to scale and execute the solution
• Track match: Fit with later-stage and early-stage qualifications, including funding stage and traction

See the full Terms and Conditions.

“The 2024 VSP Vision Innovation Challenge provided machineMD with a platform to explore our value proposition and refine our go-to-market strategy. Collaborating with industry experts across the VSP network helped us better understand opportunities to integrate into optometry workflows with the goal of better serving providers and patients.”

— Avantika Naidu, Clinical Application Specialist, runner-up in the 2024 challenge. In 2025, machineMD received an investment from THINC Ventures to advance neurodiagnostics.

1. “Discovering novel systemic biomarkers in photos of the external eye,” Cornell University, 2022.
2. “20 Surprising Health Problems an Eye Exam Can Catch,” American Academy of Ophthalmology, 2024.
3. “Global Estimates of Vision Loss,” The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, 2020.

At VSP Vision™, our purpose is to empower human potential through sight. As the first national not-for-profit vision benefits company, this is what drives everything we do. For nearly 70 years, VSP has been the leader in health-focused vision care. Every day, the people that power our complementary businesses—VSP® Vision Care, Marchon Eyewear, Inc., Visionworks®, Eyefinity®, Eyeconic, VSP® Optics, and VSP® Ventures—work together to create a world where everyone can bring their best vision to life. That means providing affordable access to eye care and eyewear for more than 85 million members through a network of more than 41,000 doctors. Learn more about how we’re reinvesting in greater vision, health, and opportunities for all at vspvision.com.

The VSP Global Innovation Center (GIC) is VSP’s lens into the future. Through emerging technologies, new business exploration, and strategic connections within the innovation ecosystem, the GIC is a hub for reimagining the way eye care and eyewear are delivered to the world. For more information on the Global Innovation Center and how to connect, visit: https://vspvision.com/innovation.

Topcon Healthcare, Inc. is part of Topcon Corporation (TSE 7732). We are a leading provider of digital healthcare solutions whose vision is to improve access and quality of healthcare while decreasing the cost of care. To achieve this vision, we created Healthcare from the Eye™, the strategy of applying AI models to imaging data from the eye to facilitate earlier detection and better management of disease. Healthcare from the Eye™ is powered by Harmony®, a cloud-based, vendor-inclusive digital health information platform enabling a connected care ecosystem.

A truly global business, Topcon Corporation is focused on developing solutions to solve societal challenges in the mega domains of healthcare, agriculture, and infrastructure. In healthcare, these challenges include increasing eye disease, rising medical costs, physician shortages, and unequal access to healthcare. By investing in value-driven innovations, Topcon Corporation works to help people enjoy good health and a better quality of life.

Vision Expo East and West are trade-only conferences and exhibitions for eyecare and eyewear presented by co-owners RX and The Vision Council. Vision Expo is the most comprehensive event for the entire Vision community, built for the industry by the industry. The only balance of conference and exhibition to learn from industry pioneers, explore cutting-edge advancements, and gain a new perspective on the future of eyewear. In the Vision Expo Exhibit Hall, eyecare providers can discover fashion trends, interact with new technologies and access innovative products and services. The Vision Expo education program is driven by the profession, offering content of the highest quality and relevance to enhance overall patient care. For more information on Vision Expo, visit visionexpo.com and follow Vision Expo’s social media channels, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn.

At MATTER, we believe collaboration is the best way to improve healthcare. The MATTER collaborative includes more than 1,000 current and alumni startups from around the world, working together with dozens of hospitals and health systems, universities and industry-leading companies to build the future of healthcare. Together we are accelerating innovation, advancing care and improving lives. For more information, visit matter.health and follow @MATTERhealth.