With only five weeks left until Demo Day we can’t think of any better way to generate excitement about our #RA21 cohort than with the launch of our very first Founder Stories Series!
This video series was brought to life with the help of Clothesline Content and showcases the founders themselves sharing the origins and human story behind their startups. On that note we are beyond excited to introduce our first story featuring Maddy Scavone, Founder of Speckles!
Speckles are experts in the field of children’s vision with fun and innovative products, including adjustable glasses for kids and eye patches kids want to wear, whilst providing education and support throughout your child’s vision journey.
Learn more about this innovative startup by watching Maddy’s story below…
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3DYiVkVBYg[/embedyt]
A time-coded transcript of this video is available for download and the script is also available below.
Maddy Scavone [00:00:02]
I’ve always been a natural problem solver, and I really wanted to have a job where I could help more people and so I wanted to become an orthoptist.
I’m Maddy Scavone and I’m the founder of Speckles. Speckles is an online platform for parents to go to for children with vision impairment. We’re offering adjustable glasses for kids and as well as eye patches and information to support those parents on their child’s visual journey.
My fascination with eyes actually came from when I was a kid and I first found out I needed to wear glasses myself. And basically I put on my first pair of prescription glasses and I looked in the distance and I was like, wow, I can actually see faces. I just thought they were all blurs, it was wonderful. I remember that moment so clearly and to be able to give that to all kids out there is just amazing.
Working as an orthoptist patients come in and see me after we recommend them to go get glasses and prescribe them, they come back and the glasses would be slipping down their face and the child would be looking over the glass, not through the lenses, which would cause some delays with their vision and the parents have complained about how hard it was to find glasses that fit their child, but also the costs involved every time the child outgrew the glasses. And that’s when I sort of knew I should do something about it.
I woke up in the middle of the night, I just remember it so clearly and I had to, like, grab the nearest pen and paper and to start drawing down what I was seeing. And basically, it was this pair of adjustable glasses that will grow the child’s face, guaranteeing a perfect fit every time.
So I started when I first did the first sketches back in 2013. We are now helping over 3000 kids around the world on their journey to better vision.
Remarkable, really look at the bigger picture for providing access to everyone. So a lot of other startup accelerators just focus on more the long-term tech areas that exclude a lot of people. I wanted to join the Remarkable program to be part of the great community that they have and to work towards a future that’s actually helping provide better access to services to more people around the world.
[00:02:14]
Come celebrate Maddy’s achievements and learn more about her plans for the future at our online Demo Day on Tuesday the 13th of July! Registrations are essential.
