Ellison Eyewear

Ellison Eyewear is a new brand of hand-made, top-quality sunglasses.

Currently, the $112 billion eyewear industry is controlled by a handful of giant corporations that own the rights and licenses to today’s biggest fashion brands and distribution channels.

That means they control prices -- which could lead consumers to pay higher prices for lower quality products than they should.

Ellison is building a new sunglasses brand that:

1. Strives for the highest quality.

For example, Ellison’s quality assurance process is 2x more rigorous than the industry standard.

And its Carl Zeiss Vision Lenses deliver its customers the same superior optics found in the lenses used to film the moon landing.

2. Has an integrated social mission.

With every pair of sunglasses sold, Ellison will provide sight to somebody in need in one of three ways:

A) Spectacles for children:
The results of giving glasses to the child can be miraculous – children go from failing and resenting school to excelling as students.

B) Building Vision Centers for the poor:
Many rural areas don’t have access to basic eye care. Ellison's donations help build eye care centers to provide help to people in need.

C) Training eye health personnel:
Along with the shortage of eye care access, the rural clinics that do exist lack trained staff. Ellison's donations help train the personnel to provide basic eye care.

3. Aims to retain customers for life.

Other brands benefit from the fact that sunglasses often get lost, broken or stolen. In fact, as Ellison states, other brands "bet on it to make profits." Ellison turns the tables with what it calls Club Ellison.

Basically, membership in Club Ellison is insurance for your sunglasses. It targets 3 pain points experienced by tens of millions of customers of high end frames:

Sunglasses tend to break, get stolen, or get lost.

Should any of these things happen to a Club Ellison member's glasses, members have access to its entire collection at 50% off retail prices.

Becoming a Club Ellison Member is simple. After purchasing any of its products online, you will be eligible to become a ClubEllison Member for $10 -- a one-time payment for lifetime coverage against loss, theft, or damage.

Ellison glasses have already made the leap into pop culture. It's had notable features on some of the most recognized faces in the entertainment industry including Kelly Clarkson, Jennie Garth, Novak Djokovic, Kendall Jenner, and music artists like Lil Wayne.

The company has also been featured in Inc, Business Insider, NY Post, Life & Style Magazine, CBS, Fox News, and many other outlets.

Its 2016 sales are about $136,000 so far, up 125% from last year, with profit margins of 2.9x to 5x depending on the sales channel.

Team Background

Aristotle Loumis - CEO/Founder

Aristotle is the proprietor of two companies in the healthcare sector.

He earned his degree from University of Iowa.

John Roa - Partner / Technologist

John Roa is an award-winning entrepreneur and innovator in the technology and lifestyle space.

He was founder and CEO of AKTA, a mobile and UX consulting firm, which was sold to Salesforce in September 2015.

Ravi Patel - Co-Founder / Growth Strategist

Ravi Patel is an investor in Ellison, and focuses on its growth.

He is the principle of Built By Iowa Ventures and President of Hawkeye Hotels, one of the fastest growing, privately-owned hotel companies in the country.

John Roa - Partner / Technologist

John Roa is an award-winning entrepreneur and innovator in the technology and lifestyle space. He was founder and CEO of AKTA, a mobile and UX consulting firm, which was sold to Salesforce in September 2015.

Tim Huizenga - Advisor

President Huizenga Consulting

Chad Bronstien - Advisor

SVP @Amobee

Adam Codilis - Advisor

Vice President and Attorney at Law at Codilis & Associates, P.C.

Alex Afshari - CFO / Advisor

President/CEO APA Financial Services

Stacey Walker - Advisor

http://www.walkerforsupervisor.com/

Atul Nakhasi - Advisor

Resident Physician - UCLA. National Chair - American Medical Association. MPP Candidate - Harvard University.

Adam Keune - Advisor

Co-Founder/CDO @HigherLearningTechnologies

Faraz Mirza - Advisor

CEO/Founder @1FaceWatch @ChuckOffs @MirzaMinds

Debbie Wong - Project Manager

Taylor Spoula - Community Manager

Teresa Bigelow - Public Relations Manager

Ian Friedman - Operations Manager

Lamar Land - Creative Director

Jeremy Brick - Brand Development

Ravi Patel - Co-Founder/Growth Strategist

Ravi Patel is an investor specializing in Ellison's growth. He is the principle of Built By Iowa Ventures and president of Hawkeye Hotels, one of the fastest growing, privately-owned hotel companies in the country.

Greg Lechner - Ellison Growth Strategist/ Exec. Advisor

Former VP of Luxottica/LensCrafters. Built the leading global optical ecommerce retailer, Coastal.com, successfully sold the business to Essilor. ​Built​LensCrafters/Luxottica ​ecommerce​.​

Bryant Keil - Ellison Growth Strategist/Exec. Advisor

Founder and served as the Chief Executive Officer and Founding Chairman of Potbelly Corporation. Co-Chairman of 1871 and Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center. 2007 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award recipient.

Alex Afshari - Ellison CFO/Exec. Advisor

CEO/Founder APA Financial Services. Spearheading the financial infrastructure and management for multiple fortune 500 companies, with an emphasis on high growth start-ups, responsible for multiple seven figure exits.

Co-Investors