EssilorLuxottica Expands Med-Tech Footprint and Smart Eyewear Innovation

EssilorLuxottica has announced two strategic moves this week that underscore its ambitious push into both medical eye care and next-generation smart eyewear technology.

The Paris-based vision care leader revealed on 12 December that it is acquiring Signifeye, a prominent Belgian ophthalmology platform operating 15 eye centres and clinics across the Flanders region. The acquisition, expected to close in Q1 2026, follows hot on the heels of EssilorLuxottica's recent purchase of Optegra, which operates more than 70 clinics across the UK, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and the Netherlands.

Building an integrated eye care model

The Signifeye acquisition strengthens EssilorLuxottica's positioning in the medical eye care sector, advancing what the company describes as its "med-tech trajectory" and ambition to create an integrated medical model covering the full spectrum of patient needs.

Signifeye provides both medically necessary ophthalmic treatments and elective vision procedures, having built a reputation for clinical excellence in Belgium's private healthcare sector.

"With Signifeye joining EssilorLuxottica's ecosystem, we strengthen our ability to deliver truly end-to-end eye care and redefine what medical excellence can be across the entire patient journey," said Francesco Milleri, chairman and CEO, and Paul du Saillant, deputy CEO at EssilorLuxottica.

Kathleen Moons, CEO at Signifeye, said the combination would enable the company to leverage EssilorLuxottica's global leadership while maintaining its commitment to patient care and clinical excellence.

Advancing smart eyewear chip development

Separately, EssilorLuxottica announced on 10 December a collaboration with Fondazione Chips-IT, Italy's research centre specialising in advanced integrated-circuit design. The partnership aims to accelerate application-specific chip development for smart eyewear within an open-hardware environment.

The collaboration will focus on advancing ultra-low-power electronics, sensors and wearable computing capabilities. EssilorLuxottica plans to release select components of its wearable platforms as open-source hardware to foster collaborative innovation.

"Realizing the full potential of smart eyewear means reimagining the electronics at its core in a way that truly meets the unique needs of our industry," Milleri commented.

The partnership positions EssilorLuxottica to enhance its existing smart eyewear portfolio, which includes Ray-Ban Meta, Oakley Meta Vanguard and Nuance Audio products.

Strategic growth trajectory

The dual announcements reflect EssilorLuxottica's two-pronged growth strategy: expanding its presence across the eye care continuum from prevention to specialised clinical management, while simultaneously pushing the technological boundaries of smart eyewear.

Financial terms of the Signifeye acquisition were not disclosed.