Port St. Lucie/August 17, 2019 — OCULUS Surgical, Inc. has been honored by GrowFL as one of only 50 companies statewide for the prestigious 2019 Florida Companies to Watch award. The program, now in its ninth year, celebrates growing second-stage companies headquartered in Florida.
Presented by GrowFL, in association with Edward Lowe Foundation, Florida Companies to Watch is an awards program like no other. Companies to Watch® was developed by the Edward Lowe Foundation as a unique way to recognize and honor second-stage companies that demonstrate high performance in the marketplace with innovative strategies and processes, making them “worth watching.”
OCULUS Surgical, headquartered in Port St. Lucie, was founded in 2012 by OCULUS Optikgerate GmbH, a 120-year-old corporation based in Wetzlar, Germany, which developed the SDI®BIO® Wide Angle Viewing System, forever changing how surgeons view vitreoretinal surgery. OCULUS Surgical’s instruments are marketed worldwide.
“It is a tremendous honor to be part of this select group of companies and to be recognized statewide for our innovation and growth,” said OCULUS Surgical CEO Bob Zatarain. “Our parent company’s strong heritage of providing ophthalmologic surgeons with innovative, high-quality products that literally save patients’ vision is the foundation for all we do.”
It is difficult to overstate our pride in the achievements of OCULUS Surgical. We are delighted that our U.S. company and our people have received such a significant honor,” said OCULUS GmbH CEO Christian Kirchhuebel.
The 50 companies named to the 2019 Florida Companies to Watch generated nearly $1 billion in revenues and added nearly 1,000 employees between 2015 and 2018. Together, the companies project a 40 percent increase in revenue and job growth compared to 2018.
“These stand-out companies are all led by entrepreneurs, and have demonstrated their capacity and intent to grow,” said Tom O’Neal, GrowFL executive director. “They also all have critical intellectual property or a niche position that gives them a competitive edge in their markets.”
OCULUS Surgical’s achievements will be recognized on November 14 at Hard Rock Live in Orlando at the 2019 Florida Companies to Watch celebration.
About OCULUS Surgical, Inc.
Headquartered in Port St. Lucie, Florida, OCULUS Surgical was created in 2012 by its German parent OCULUS Optikgerate GmbH. The company manufactures and distributes innovative, high quality ophthalmic surgical instruments such as the SDI®BIO® Wide Angle Viewing System. OCULUS Surgical, Inc., together with OCULUS Optikgeräte GmbH, partners with surgeons to advance the development of new surgical tools for today's challenging surgical environment, enabling ophthalmic surgeons to focus on their patients. For more information, visit http://www.oculussurgical.com.
About GrowFL
GrowFL was created in 2009 as an economic development program focused on assisting second-stage growth companies prosper in the state of Florida. By providing strategies, resources and support to second-stage companies for next level growth through Strategic Research, Peer Learning and Leadership Development, GrowFL helps companies overcome obstacles to growth and leads them towards prosperity. GrowFL is a statewide economic development organization certified by the National Center for Economic Gardening through the Edward Lowe Foundation. For more information, http://www.growfl.com.
About the Edward Jones Foundation
Ed and Darlene Lowe established the Edward Lowe Foundation in 1985 to leverage entrepreneurship as a strategy for economic growth and community development. In contrast to most U.S. foundations, which are grant-giving entities, the foundation funds its own programs.
Entrepreneurship initiatives are focused on second-stage companies — growth-oriented firms that have moved beyond startup but haven’t yet reached maturity.
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