5 September 2024

Tekcapital Plc

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

Innovative Eyewear, Inc. Expands Distribution to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries

Tekcapital Plc (AIM: TEK), the UK intellectual property investment group notes that Innovative Eyewear, Inc. ("Innovative Eyewear") (NASDAQ: LUCY; LUCYW), the developer and retailer of ChatGPT enabled smart eyewear under the Lucyd®, Nautica®, Eddie Bauer® and Reebok® brands, has announced overseas expansion into the Middle East market through an exclusive distribution agreement with Ecom Gulf FZCO.

The distribution agreement with Ecom Gulf FZCO covers the GCC countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman. This agreement aims to introduce Innovative Eyewear's smart glasses to a rapidly growing market for tech products in the region.

According to Statista[1], in 2024, "The [traditional] eyewear market in GCC is projected to generate revenue of US$1.8bn with an CAGR of 3% (between 2024-2029), By 2029 the market is expected to achieve a volume of ~170m frames. In the GCC, there is a growing demand for luxury eyewear brands, with consumers willing to pay a premium for high-quality and stylish frames."

Lucyd Lyte® Jupiter style. Image courtesy of Innovative Eyewear, Inc.

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

"We are thrilled to partner with Ecom Gulf FZCO to bring our stylish and user-friendly smart eyewear to the Middle East. This region represents a significant opportunity for growth, with its tech-forward consumers and robust retail landscape."

To kick off the partnership, Ecom Gulf FZCO will be participating in the Dubai AI & Web3 Festival, showcasing Innovative Eyewear's cutting-edge ChatGPT smart eyewear. The Dubai AI & Web3 Festival, scheduled for September 11-12, 2024, at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai, provides an ideal platform for Ecom Gulf FZCO to showcase Innovative's smart eyewear offerings. The festival, focused on enabling digital economies, brings together global leaders in artificial intelligence and Web3 technologies will enable Innovative Eyewear Inc. to demonstrate its products to a highly relevant audience reinforcing its position as a leader in ChatGPT enabled smart eyewear.

Hisham Elhusseini, CEO of Ecom Gulf FZCO, said:

 "I am excited to announce our partnership with Innovative Eyewear, Inc. as the exclusive distributor of their pioneering smart glasses in the Middle East. This collaboration marks a key milestone in our commitment to driving the future of smart living through GenAI technology, and we look forward to introducing these innovative products to our customers across the region."

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 Ecom Gulf FZCO (DBA Mixireal)

MIXIREAL was founded with a dream to transform daily life through the integration of metaverse technologies. Located in the heart of the Middle East, MIXIREAL serves as the first one-stop shop for augmented reality, virtual reality, and smart eyewear. To learn more, please visit www.mixireal.com.

About Tekcapital plc

Tekcapital creates value from investing in new, university-developed discoveries that can enhance people's lives and provides a range of technology transfer services to help organisations evaluate and commercialise new technologies. 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. 

For further information, please contact:

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release is for informational purposes only. The information herein does not constitute investment advice nor an offer to invest and may contain statements related to our future business and financial performance and future events or developments involving Innovative Eyewear, Inc., Lucyd or Tekcapital that may constitute forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by words such as "expect," "look forward to," "anticipate" "intend," "plan," "believe," "seek," "estimate," "will," "project" or words of similar meaning. We may also make forward-looking statements in other reports, in presentations, in material delivered to customers, stakeholders and in press releases. In addition, our representatives may from time to time make oral forward-looking statements. Such statements may be based on the current expectations and certain assumptions of Tekcapital, Innovative Eyewear Inc. or Lucyd's management. Please note that these are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and factors, including, but not limited to those described in various disclosures. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying expectations not occur or assumptions prove incorrect, actual results, performance or achievements of Innovative Eyewear Inc., Lucyd and/or Tekcapital may vary materially from those described explicitly or implicitly in the relevant forward-looking statement. Other than as required by relevant regulation or law,  neither Innovative Eyewear Inc, Lucyd nor Tekcapital intends, nor assumes any obligation, to update or revise these forward-looking statements in light of developments which differ from those anticipated.