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Frameri Eyewear was an online eyeglass retailer based in Cincinnati that offered flexible options for lenses and frames. Frameri Eyewear offered interchangeable lenses and frames for glasses online.
The Frameri Eyewear are conveniently interchangeable lenses, so the desired style can be achieved without purchasing the glasses preassembled. The lenses are UV-protected, scratch-resistant, and anti-reflective, and they cost $100.
Company Name | Frameri Eyewear |
Entrepreneur | Kevin Habich and Konrad Billetz |
Product | Frames and lenses that can be interchanged |
Investment Asking For | $150,000 For 4% equity in Frameri Eyewear |
Final Deal | No Deal |
Shark | No Shark |
Episode | Season 6, Episode 27 |
Business Status | Out of Business |
Website | Frameri Eyewear Website |
Who Is The Founder Of Frameri Eyewear?
Konrad Billetz founded and ran the operation of Frameri Eyewear. Boise State University awarded Billitz his first bachelor’s degree in biochemistry in 2009.
After earning his Master’s degree in Business Administration from Notre Dame in 2013, he founded Frameri Eyewear with Kevin Habich in 2014.
Billetz founded Offset Solar in 2018, which continued operating until 2019. Billitz co-founded Outliant, a technical services firm, in July 2019 and continues to lead it as its CEO.
The company provides doctor-prescribed therapies directly to customers’ homes through a company he co-founded in January 2021, Winona, Inc.
Kevin and Conrad spent years designing their frames and lenses before appearing on Shark Tank. The Frameri Eyewear team worked tirelessly to ensure that Frameri had a patentable concept, even handcrafting every frame.
The success and leadership of Konrad Billetz exemplify everything that makes an entrepreneur great. The incident began when Billetz was eleven years old and was shot in the eye with a BB gun, causing permanent vision damage.
He was annoyed by the need to wear spectacles and the inability to exchange the lenses when he needed new ones. Frameri Eyewear was the result of Billetz’s frustration.
Over 10 companies rejected Billetz before debuting in 2012. Eventually, he managed to find an Italian company that was willing to take him on – and his success soared from there.
Crowdsourcing portals allowed them to raise more than double their initial request using crowdsourcing.
Will the sharks accept this novel approach to eyewear?
How Was The Shark Tank Pitch Of Frameri Eyewear?
Konrad and Kevin appeared on the Shark Tank requesting an investment of $150,000 in exchange for a 3.5 percent stake in Frameri Eyewear. They founded the company to make it simple to switch out glasses styles.
They were presented with the opportunity to borrow $150,000 from Kevin O’Leary in exchange for 3.5 percent of the company’s stock and $25 from each customer from the sale of each box set; however, they chose not to take advantage of this offer.
The boys are adamant about not preceding royalties and deny the offer, forcing Kevin to declare, “you’re dead to me.”
The founders of Frameri Eyewear left the negotiation without an agreement, but the company nonetheless managed to sell the most number of glasses because to their visibility on television.
Final Deal: No deal between Frameri Eyewear and Sharks.
What Happened To Frameri Eyewear After Shark Tank?
However, Conrad and Kevin seem to be doing well all by themselves even though they did not accept the deal from the Sharks. Kevin describes how they secured state funding and recruited an ex-employee of Luxottica, the huge eyewear manufacturer.
It appears that their website is functioning today and that orders are being accepted. Ultimately, Frameri Eyewear’s success will be determined by the gentlemen in question.
Frameri Eyewear continued to compete with Warby Parker after appearing on Shark Tank, raising millions of dollars a year.
A Wall Street Journal article published in April 2015 reported that Warby Parker was valued at $1.2 billion, and prospective investors in Frameri frequently inquired about why Frameri wasn’t doing as well as Warby Parker.
Frameri ceased operations in 2017. According to LinkedIn, Biletz co-founded Offset Solar, which retrofits homes for solar electricity. Frameri Eyewear products has been out of stock after 2017 and the company is out of business.
The valuation of Frameri Eyewear was $3.75 million when it appeared on Shark Tank. The current net worth of Frameri Eyewear is effectively $0 as the company went out of business in 2017.