READ ON marks sixth anniversary
- By Editorial Team
Award-winning reading glasses company, read-on, marks its sixth anniversary by repositioning itself as an optical innovation platform. Known for embedding readers into iPhone cases, designing ultra-portable standalone ready-readers, and offering customizable eyewear kits, the company is now accelerating its plans to “scale-up” the business and unlock emerging opportunities.
Sandra Kaufmann and Monika Fink, co-founders and co-CEOs of read on, are redefining the ready-made reading glasses with a fresh and radical industrial design approach. With read on light, their newest fashionable, ultra-compact product, they have transformed the category from a pure necessity into desirable, design-driven accessories – seamlessly blending function with lifestyle.
“From the start of read on we have reimagined reading glasses as a fashion forward, ultra-portable accessory to express style and personality, beyond a purely functional tool,” says Sandra Kaufmann, co-founder, read on. “That has been our driver: to develop more than “just” reading glasses but an optical innovation platform. And the feedback from consumers exceeds our high expectations! As a result, growth has been in high double-digits since the launch.”
Recently, read on introduced their newest innovation – read on light customized, enabling in-store customization of ready-made readers with different lenses. With a practical lens box for the optician’s counter, which includes 28 interchangeable pre-cut lenses spanning seven diopter strengths (+1.0 to +2.5), read on light readers can be adapted to the specific optical needs of the customer in no time. The lens box is expected to quickly become an important growth driver in read on’s product portfolio.
“With the brand-new read on light customized version, we continue our innovation track-record and further strengthen the read on product innovation platform,” comments Monika Fink, co-founder, read on, about the latest innovation success. “We believe there is a multi-billion unaddressed market for such an offering that read on can break into and win a significant share of it. To fully capture this opportunity, we are now exploring options for partnerships and strategic transactions.”
read on is the third eyewear venture by Sandra Kaufmann and Monika Fink. Their first business in optics, Strada del Sole, was renowned for patented flat metal frames in the luxury segment, while their eyewear brand, SOL SOL ITO, offers a pioneering modular eyewear kit with a screwless hinge and interchangeable temples. Each venture reflects their ability to challenge conventions and rethink product design from the ground up.
Since launching read on in 2020 and its core product read on light in 2024, Sandra and Monika have led the creation of proprietary, category-defining eyewear that introduce entirely new ways of experiencing ready-made readers. What was once an overlooked, purely functional segment is now a dynamic lifestyle category. The brand has rapidly evolved into an award-winning international success, now present in around 20 countries.
Image credit: Nina-Maria Glahé
