Disruptive Coastal Contacts Founder Re-enters Eye Care Industry
Tuesday, May 14 2019 | 08 h 07 min | News
It appears that Coastal Contacts founder, Roger Hardy, is at it again.
After a five-year hiatus, which happens to coincide with the typical duration of a non-compete clause in a business purchase agreement, Roger Hardy, the founder of British Columbia based Coastal Contacts is getting back into the online vision correction device sector.
Hardy Capital, an investment firm founded by Hardy, announced the acquisition of LD Vision Group Inc., an online contact lenses seller headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Richmond, BC and Buffalo, NY. LD Vision was owned by a trio of brothers. Terms of the deal were not announced.
Hardy was the founder of the disruptive marketer Coastal which was acquired by Essilor in 2014 for $450 million and later renamed as “Clearly”.
Hardy Capital expects to announce broader expansion plans into the eye care industry in the months ahead. The purchase of LD Vision Group is the second investment in the eye care category by the group. In 2018, Hardy made a seed-stage investment in millennial sunglass online brand, Privé Revaux.
The LD Vision website touts “Easy prescription submission, fast prescription verification by real humans, and reduced clicks and pages to view from start to receipt…”
According to media reports, Hardy sees opportunity in online testing to generate eyewear prescriptions and eliminate the need for consumers to take more time-consuming tests with actual doctors.
Notably, Hardy expects to announce broader expansion plans into the eye care industry in the months ahead.
