Dopavision

Myopia, or shortsightedness, is a condition where the visual image is focused in front of the retina, instead of on the retina itself, as it should. People with myopia have good near sight vision but poor distance vision. Dopavision is developing a digital therapeutic for myopia which can be seamlessly and invisibly integrated with the use of a smartphone. Myopia is a visual condition that affects on average every third person globally, a share that has increased rapidly during the last two decades. It has grown to alarming proportions in Asia where prevalence rates, e.g., in Singapore, have reached 80% among young adults. High myopia imposes a significant risk to cause visual impairment and even blindness later in life. The goal of the Berlin-based startup is to develop a clinically validated therapy for myopia progression in children and adolescents. The technology delivers light stimulation to specific photosensitive cells on the retina which in turn modulate dopamine, a neurotransmitter that is important for the regulation of eye growth. Founded in 2017, Dopavision GmbH is supported by the German government via the “Industrie-in-Klinik” program of the BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research) with the amount of € 1.4 million over three years. Additionally, the company is backed with venture capital in a seed round to advance the research and further develop the product for clinical validation.