KRISHA PATEL
UNITED STATES, 17
Project: Fision Lens
Cofounders: Eva Tuecke and Emily Shao
Basic Human Needs: Environment, Health, Safety
First prescribed glasses in Kindergarten, Krisha’s vision progressively worsened as years passed. The need to replace her glasses, whether because of her eyes’ changing, functionality or damage, was always costly, and the wait for a new pair impacted every part of her life. When she was 15-years-old, Krisha learned approximately 2.5 billion individuals around the world needed glasses but couldn’t access or afford vision correction, which hindered their educational and economic progress. In January 2019 Krisha and her cofounders, Eva and Emily, launched Fision Lens to make quality eyewear more affordable and accessible worldwide by providing an inexpensive and environmentally sustainable alternative to traditional lens replacement. Fision Lens is developing a thin, optical film that can adhere to an existing glasses lens to make inexpensive prescription updates. In doing so, they hope to make updated eyewear more affordable for communities globally, while simultaneously raising awareness of the plight of billions across the world who need updated vision correction but still lack access to it. In a year, they raised $40,000+ from various competitions to support prototype and product development, and obtained a provisional patent. In the near future they plan to begin mass production and hope to sustain themselves by using both commercial and philanthropic methods of distribution. Fision Lens’ goals are to provide inexpensive and accessible vision to everyone, while making the eyewear industry more environmentally friendly.