TEK Tekcapital Plc

    6 November 2024

Tekcapital Plc

("Tekcapital", the "Company" or the "Group")

Innovative Eyewear, Inc. Announces Lucyd Smart Eyewear

Now Sold at Nebraska Furniture Mart

Tekcapital Plc (AIM: TEK), the UK intellectual property investment group notes that Innovative Eyewear, Inc. ("Innovative Eyewear" or "Lucyd")) (NASDAQ: LUCY; LUCYW), the developer and retailer of ChatGPT enabled smart eyewear under the Lucyd®, Nautica®, Eddie Bauer® and Reebok® brands, has announced that the full range of Lucyd, and Powered by Lucyd products, will be available at Nebraska Furniture Mart (NFM)Optical starting Black Friday, 2024.

Founded in 1937, Nebraska Furniture Mart, headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is a Midwestern retailer with four locations that seek to redefine the retail experience. The stores offer sunwear in Kansas City and The Colony and beginning with the Omaha location's new NFM OPTICAL, they will carry numerous Lucyd frames as well as the Company's sophisticated new Lucyd Kiosk standing display.

A model sporting the new Lucyd Lyte® Darkside 2024 Edition

Image courtesy Innovative Eyewear, Inc.

Harrison Gross, CEO of Innovative Eyewear Inc., commented:

"NFM is a highly regarded and well-established retailer, and we are thrilled to work with an esteemed Berkshire Hathaway owned company. NFM has provided a destination shopping experience for nearly a century, and I believe their passion for groundbreaking retail experiences is an excellent match for our unique designer smart eyewear. We believe this new category represents an important step forward in eyewear, providing safer, open-ear audio for active lifestyles, and wearable utility that makes information and communications more accessible. This holiday season, go to NFM Optical to Upgrade Your Eyewear®."

Rob Roggeveen, Senior Optical Buyer at NFM said:

"With the recent expansion into the Wellness sector with NFM Optical, we are able to provide cutting edge technology and new and innovative optical solutions to our customers. Lucyd's selection of smart eyewear offers another level of service that we can offer our prescription and non-prescription Optical customers. This is something special that opens up a whole new world for eyeglass wearers."

Nebraska Furniture Mart is renowned for its exceptional merchandising prowess, which is evident in its vast showrooms and curated product displays. The company excels at creating immersive shopping experiences that cater to a diverse range of customer preferences. By carefully selecting and arranging furniture, appliances, electronics, and other home goods, NFM effectively showcases the latest trends and styles while also highlighting timeless classics. Their merchandising teams are skilled at storytelling through product presentation, using lighting, color, and space to evoke emotions and inspire customers. This commitment to visual merchandising, combined with a wide selection of high-quality products, has contributed to NFM's success as a leading furniture retailer. 

To try Lucyd eyewear at NFM Optical this holiday season, including the new Lucyd Armor™ smart safety glass, visit www.nfm.com and visit the NFM Optical page, or shop at their flagship Omaha, Nebraska store.

About NFM

NFM (Nebraska Furniture Mart), as originally named, was founded by Rose Blumkin in 1937 in the basement of her husband's pawn shop in Omaha, Nebraska. In 1983, investor Warren Buffett purchased a majority interest in NFM and made it part of the Berkshire Hathaway family of companies. Today, NFM is one of the nation's largest home furnishings retailers, selling furniture, flooring, appliances and electronics. NFM currently has locations in Omaha, Nebraska, Des Moines, Iowa, Kansas City, Kansas and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas with a planned fifth location in Cedar Park, Texas a suburb of Austin. For more information on NFM, please visit www.nfm.com.

About Innovative Eyewear, Inc.

Innovative Eyewear is a developer and retailer of ChatGPT smart eyewear, under the Lucyd^®, Nautica^®, Eddie Bauer^® and Reebok® brands. True to their mission to Upgrade Your Eyewear^®, their Bluetooth audio glasses allow users to stay safely and ergonomically connected to their digital lives and are offered in hundreds of frame and lens combinations to meet the needs of the optical market. To learn more and explore our continuously evolving collection of smart eyewear, please visit www.lucyd.co.

About Tekcapital plc

Tekcapital creates value from investing in new, university-developed discoveries that can enhance people's lives. Tekcapital is quoted on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange (AIM: symbol TEK) and is headquartered in the UK. For more information, please visit www.tekcapital.com.

LEI: 213800GOJTOV19FIFZ85

Tekcapital currently owns 259,455 shares of Innovative Eyewear, Inc. 

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Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including those relating to the anticipated introduction of new products into new points of distribution. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current expectations and assumptions. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a safe-harbor for forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking expressions, including, but not limited to, "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "estimate," "expect," "future," "intend," "may," "outlook," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "will," "would" and similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the expected launch date for the new smart safety eyewear connection. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 10-K under the caption "Risk Factors."