Holland Foundation For Sight Restoration

What Holland Foundation For Sight Restoration does

The Holland Foundation for Sight Restoration is a U.S. nonprofit foundation that addresses corneal blindness in patients suffering from severe ocular surface disease (OSD), a condition for which standard corneal transplantation fails due to the absence of a healthy ocular surface. Its core offering is The Cincinnati Protocol™, a proprietary, trademarked methodology for ocular surface stem cell transplantation developed by founder Dr. Edward J. Holland that combines patient management and surgical techniques to restore vision in cases where conventional care is inadequate.

The foundation delivers the protocol through a curated network of five Centers of Excellence embedded in leading U.S. ophthalmology institutions: Cincinnati Eye Institute, University of California Irvine, Virginia Eye Consultants, Mass Eye and Ear (affiliated with Harvard), and Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary at the University of Illinois Chicago. Beyond direct treatment, the foundation funds surgeon education, research, and long-term management programs for complex ocular surface disease, positioning itself as both a clinical delivery network and a training ecosystem.

The organization is funded primarily through charitable contributions, anchored by its five-year, $5 million Light After Darkness campaign launched in October 2025. It operates with 1-10 employees out of Seattle, is governed by a Board of Directors (expanded in January 2026 with Dr. Marjan Farid and James Mazzo), and does not commercialize software, devices, or data products. Its measurable footprint is the network of affiliated medical centers and the donor base supporting expansion of that network.

Name

Holland Foundation For Sight Restoration

Legal name

Holland Foundation For Sight Restoration

Website

https://HollandFoundationForSight.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Holland Foundation for Sight Restoration is a U.S. nonprofit that restores sight in patients with corneal blindness from severe ocular surface disease by delivering its trademarked Cincinnati Protocol™ through a network of five academic Centers of Excellence across the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Ophthalmology Healthcare Services

NAICS

Offices of Optometrists (62132)

SIC

Services-Specialty Outpatient Facilities, Nec (8093)

akta.pro primary industry

Cornea, External Disease & Refractive Surgery (LASIK/PRK) (HLAKAKAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Ophthalmic Regeneration (cornea/retina) (HLAAAGAK), Cornea & External Disease Surgical Devices (Keratoplasty Tools, Cross-Linking Systems, Amniotic Membrane Delivery) (HLAHAJAK)

Keywords

• Corneal transplantation services
• Ocular surface disease treatment
• Vision restoration nonprofit
• Stem cell transplantation
• Surgeon education programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: The foundation operates as a nonprofit organization relying on donations to fund its mission of expanding surgeon education, establishing Centers of Excellence, and providing treatment for patients with corneal blindness from severe ocular surface disease.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Holland Foundation for Sight Restoration is a nonprofit organization that addresses corneal blindness in patients with Severe Ocular Surface Disease (OSD) through The Cincinnati Protocol™, a comprehensive surgical and patient management approach for ocular surface stem cell transplantation developed by Dr. Edward Holland. Services are delivered through a network of Centers of Excellence located at major U.S. medical institutions, including Cincinnati Eye Institute, UC Irvine, Virginia Eye Consultants, Mass Eye and Ear Boston, and Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary at UIC.

Product overview

The Holland Foundation for Sight Restoration is a nonprofit organization focused on addressing corneal blindness in patients with Severe Ocular Surface Disease. The foundation's primary offering is The Cincinnati Protocol™, a comprehensive surgical and patient management approach for ocular surface stem cell transplantation. This protocol is delivered through a network of Centers of Excellence located at leading eye institutes across the United States, enabling patients nationwide to access specialized treatment for corneal blindness.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Cincinnati Protocol™ A comprehensive approach to patient management and surgical techniques for ocular surface stem cell transplantation developed by Dr. Edward Holland, designed to effectively restore vision in patients with severe ocular surface disease and corneal blindness where standard corneal transplantation fails.
• Centers of Excellence Network A network of specialized treatment centers providing corneal transplantation and vision restoration services for patients with severe ocular surface disease, with locations at Cincinnati Eye Institute, University of California Irvine, Virginia Eye Consultants, Mass Eye and Ear in Boston, and Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary at the University of Illinois Chicago.

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary at the University of Illinois ChicagocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 April 2026Established as the foundation's fifth Center of Excellence, this partnership expands the network of specialized corneal transplantation and vision restoration centers. Dr. Ali R. Djalilian will lead the new center, expanding access to specialized care for patients with severe ocular surface disease nationwide and worldwide.
• Cincinnati Eye InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of the original Centers of Excellence locations where The Cincinnati Protocol™ was developed and first implemented.
• University of California IrvinecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCenter of Excellence established by Dr. Marjan Farid, who was also appointed to the foundation's Board of Directors in January 2026.
• Virginia Eye ConsultantscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of the established Centers of Excellence for corneal transplantation and vision restoration.
• Mass Eye and Ear BostoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of the established Centers of Excellence for corneal transplantation and vision restoration, affiliated with Harvard Medical School.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Wills Eye Hospital: Leading specialty ophthalmology hospital with a dedicated cornea service; comparable in providing tertiary corneal and ocular surface care and surgeon training at a single major US site.
• Eye Bank Association of America: Umbrella association for US eye banks that supply the donor corneal tissue underpinning transplantation; comparable as a nonprofit infrastructure player that enables the same sight-restoration procedures the Holland Foundation supports.
• Bascom Palmer Eye Institute: Top-ranked academic ophthalmology center with a strong cornea and ocular surface program; comparable as a US center of excellence that treats severe OSD patients and trains surgeons in advanced corneal techniques.

Direct peers

• Foundation Fighting Blindness: Disease-specific nonprofit that raises charitable funding to advance treatments for blinding retinal and ocular diseases; similar donation-driven funding model and patient-advocacy positioning to Holland.
• Cornea Research Foundation of America: Nonprofit foundation dedicated to corneal disease research, education, and patient access—mirrors Holland's mission in the same organ system and shares a donation-funded, surgeon-training-enabled operating model.
• BrightFocus Foundation: Nonprofit that supports research on macular degeneration, glaucoma, and other vision-threatening diseases; comparable donor-funded, research-and-awareness operating model in vision health.
• Research to Prevent Blindness: National nonprofit that funds ophthalmic research at academic medical centers; comparable to Holland in mission, donor-funded model, and focus on expanding research and treatment capacity at US eye institutes.

Others

• SightLife: Nonprofit eye bank that recovers, processes, and distributes donor corneal tissue; functionally adjacent as the supply-side infrastructure that makes corneal transplantation possible for Holland-network patients.
• Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO): International research society for vision and ophthalmology; comparable as an ecosystem enabler that connects clinicians and researchers working on ocular surface and corneal disease.
• Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) SightFirst program: Long-standing charitable program funding blindness prevention and vision restoration worldwide; comparable as a fundraising-driven funder of sight-restoration initiatives.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/HollandFoundationForSight
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hollandfoundationforsight
• Instagraminstagram.com/HF4Sight

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Holland Foundation For Sight Restoration