This month, Inc. magazine announced that Visionary Optics earned a spot on the 2021 edition of its prestigious Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies for the entire United States: “The companies that made our ranking set a high bar. In a period when so many businesses lack clarity, these leaders are bound to be the first to get to tomorrow.”
Visionary Optics was ranked No. 231 among the Inc. 5000 Regionals: Midwest honorees in the 2021 edition— which includes private companies in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
“We are thrilled and honored to be recognized among the dynamic companies on the 2021 Inc. 5000 list,” said Donald Sanders, M.D., President & CEO of Visionary Optics. “Our success is due to our dedicated team and customers, who keep us growing and striving to provide the best possible products in the scleral lens industry. We are proud to have demonstrated 55% three-year growth between 2018 and 2020 and look forward to advancing more innovative technologies in the future.”
Visionary Optics was officially founded in 2010, but a collaboration between Dr. Sanders and Dr. Robert Breece goes all the way back to 1998, when they worked on a new lens design, an Ortho-K lens for Correctech. In 2001, Dr. Breece designed and produced the first modern scleral lens design, Jupiter, under the company name Medlens Innovations. This design is the exact Jupiter lens that Visionary Optics continues to manufacture and sell today.
Dr. Greg DeNaeyer started working with Medlens to manufacture scleral lenses in 2003, and in 2009, Dr. Sanders joined Dr. Breece as a partner in the company. Dr. Breece died unexpectedly six months later, and Dr. Sanders took over Medlens. Dr. Sanders and Dr. DeNaeyer continued the collaboration that had started with Dr. Breece, establishing Visionary Optics as a new company in 2010.
By combining Dr. DeNaeyer’s clinical and research expertise with scleral lenses and Dr. Sanders’ experience as a research-oriented ophthalmologist, Visionary Optics creates unparalleled product offerings and innovations. Some of the important milestones the company has celebrated include:
- 2013: Released the Europa scleral lens, a second-generation product of the Jupiter, which now accounts for 85% of the company’s sales
- 2016: Developed the sMap3D corneo-scleral topographer with the support of a team of engineers and software specialists
- 2019: Introduced the Latitude scleral lens, the first completely custom-made lens designed to fit exact corneal and scleral surfaces based on scleral topography (sMap3D) measurements
- 2021: Launched the VibrantVue® product line, high-quality, cost-effective products for eye care practitioners and patients
Learn more about Visionary Optics and the 2021 Inc. 5000 list.
