| Representative |
Shunri Li
Born in Tokyo in 1986. Graduated from the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Osaka University in 2010, and developed electronic materials in Tokyo and Korea (Pohang). After completing his doctoral course at the Graduate School of Science, Osaka University in 2017, he joined the research and development of liquid crystal lenses at the Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, and worked on commercialization as a special assistant professor. Founded Elcio Co., Ltd. in 2019. Became Executive Vice President and Representative Director in 2020, and has held his current position (CEO) since 2021. Graduated from the Graduate School of Management at Globis in 2022. |
| Main Achievements |
Participated in the ICT Startup League in 2023. Winner of the Grand Prize in the Medical and Healthcare category at Mirai 2017 in 2017. |
| Childhood Dream |
I was good at drawing from an early age and was often praised for it, so it was a way for me to express myself. I wanted to become a manga artist and create works that would move people's hearts. Even now, I want to imagine more about people, draw stories, and create things that move people, that go beyond just pictures. |
| Influential People, Things, and Events |
Person: Masayoshi Son
Thing: All manga and novels that depict saving the weak and working together to become the strongest team
Event: Meeting senior Kansai entrepreneurs who are developing their own ecosystems |
| Motivation, Goals, and Ideal World |
Originally, as an experimental scientist, I worked on developing new technologies at university and created works that moved people every day. During my time as a graduate student (2015), I encountered liquid crystal lenses with my co-founder, Yoshikazu Shibuya, at the Lean Launchpad program, an entrepreneur training course hosted by Osaka University, and decided to make them into variable-power glasses and provide them to people suffering from declining eyesight and other problems. After graduating from graduate school in 2017, I joined the laboratory as a special researcher and worked on technology development with Shibuya, while studying management at the Globis Business School, and founded Elcio Co., Ltd. in 2019. I decided to develop glasses because I met a child with intellectual disabilities and amblyopia at Osaka University Hospital, and had direct conversations with patients suffering from various eye diseases, learning about the great suffering they suffered beyond my imagination. I was convinced that variable-power lens technology could be of great help in improving the quality of life of these people, who will need glasses in their future lives. As the aging and digitalization of society continues to progress, I believe that everyone will suffer from eye diseases to a greater or lesser extent, but I would like to create glasses that protect the eyes so that no one will experience the pain of being unable to see or having difficulty seeing. I would also like to continue developing glasses that allow people to discover a new version of themselves and the world, and have exciting, regenerative experiences through their vision. I would like to create technology that leads to the happiness of humanity and world peace. |
