Laclarée raises 2m€ for its seed round with two of the most active Seed investors in France and Germany

Laclarée gets financial support from Kreaxi (France) and High-Tech Gründerfonds HTGF (Germany) alongside with Bpifrance and a pool of banks. The total amount raised will be 2m€, including non-dilutive financing. Laclarée develops adaptive eyeglasses for presbyopia correction. This seed investment will help developing the product to reach industrialisation and market readiness by the end of 2021.

In Europe, more than 25 million presbyopes are unsatisfied with progressive lenses. Laclarée has patented an adaptive lens technology based on microfluidics in order to help these people. After 3 years of work in its labs, Laclarée has demonstrated a portable prototype combining the adaptive lens technology including today’s best refractive correction lenses (astigmatism, myopia or hyperopia). Thanks to this technology presbyopes shall retrieve their natural autofocus capabilities and see at all distances with an enhanced field of view, compared to state of the art progressive lenses. The fundraising now allows Laclarée to hire new talents in order to prepare the next fully integrated version of eyeglasses for a real beta-test, a key step before industrialisation in 2021 and market launch in 2022.

“We are very happy that Kreaxi and HTGF join our venture, confirming our international ambition: it will be excellent for the development of our company” mentions the CEO, Bruno BERGE.

“Because presbyopia affects almost all human beings after the age of 45 and progressive lenses still leave a significant part of the population dissatisfied, Laclarée targets a huge market of billions of eyeglasses in the world. We are convinced that Laclarée’s team can bring a disruptive solution to the market thanks to its deep technology” adds Sébastien Touvron, CEO and Managing Partner at Kreaxi.

Lucille Bonnet, senior investment manager at High-Tech Gründerfonds continues: “Laclarée´s eyeglasses are unique because they have been designed from day-1 to combine performance and aesthetics, which is key to unlock the existing and growing market potential.”

About Laclarée
Laclarée was founded in 2016 by Bruno Berge, physicist and entrepreneur, joined by a team gathering high-tech skills in optics, electronics, materials and microfluidics. The company has labs in Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, partnership with INL (Institut des Nanotechnologies de Lyon), and is supported by Bpifrance. Laclarée has been awarded of many prizes, including i-LAB in France, and SME-Instrument in Europe.

Contact
Laclarée
ENS-Lyon site Monod
46 Allée d’Italie
69007 Lyon
France
T.: +33 4 72 72 89 65
contact@laclaree-vision.com
www.laclaree-vision.com

About KREAXI
KREAXI is one of the top French Venture Capital specialist investing in early stage start-ups with hypergrowth profile, with € 150m under management through pan-european funds and regional funds. KREAXI has backed more than 550 companies since the last 30 years (out of which 21 went public), has an active portfolio of 75 companies, with a team of 13 professionals based in Lyon and Paris.

Contact
Sébastien TOUVRON
T.: +33 4 72 52 39 39
www.kreaxi.com

About High-Tech Gründerfonds
High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) is a seed investor that finances high-potential, tech-driven startups. With EUR 895.5 million in total investment volume across three funds and an international network of partners, HTGF has already helped forge more than 560 startups since 2005. Driven by their expertise, entrepreneurial spirit and passion, its team of experienced investment managers and startup experts help guide the development of young companies. HTGF’s focus is on high-tech startups in a range of sectors, including software, media, internet, hardware, automation, health care, chemistry and life sciences.

To date, external investors have injected over EUR 2 billion into the HTGF portfolio via more than 1,400 follow-on financing rounds. HTGF has also successfully sold interests in more than 100 companies. Investors in this public-private partnership include the Federal Ministry For Economic Affairs and Energy, the KfW Capital, and Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft e.V., as well as the companies ALTANA, BASF, BAYER, B.Braun, Boehringer Ingelheim, Robert Bosch, BÜFA, CEWE, Deutsche Post DHL, Dräger, Drillisch AG, EVONIK, EWE AG, FOND OF, Haniel, Hettich, Knauf, Körber, LANXESS, media + more venture Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG, PHOENIX CONTACT, Postbank, QIAGEN, RWE Generation SE, SAP, Schufa, Schwarz Gruppe, STIHL, Thüga, Vector Informatik, WACKER and Wilh. Werhahn KG.

Contact
High-Tech Gründerfionds
Lucille Bonnet
Schlegelstraße 2
53113 Bonn
T.: +49 228 823 00 134
l.bonnet@htgf.de
www.htgf.de