International Intraocular Implant Club

What International Intraocular Implant Club does

The International Intra-Ocular Implant Club (IIIC) is a private professional medical society founded in London on July 14, 1966 by Sir Harold Ridley and D. Peter Choyce, the pioneers of intraocular lens (IOL) implantation. Originally named the Intra-Ocular Implant Club and renamed to its present title in July 1975, IIIC was incorporated as a UK Private Limited Company in November 2011. The club's stated mission is to provide an international forum for exchange of ideas and knowledge between master surgeons and industry leaders dedicated to lens implantation, while fostering professional friendships, honoring senior members, and mentoring junior members. Membership is by invitation and historically capped (approximately 100 members per a 1972 meeting record), drawing surgeons and industry figures from the UK, Germany, the United States and other regions globally.

IIIC operates a single core product: a member portal at iiiclub.org that provides invited members and recognized guests with access to event announcements, photo galleries, newsletters, ticketing for IIIC events, and a member directory. The technology stack is modest — a website platform, Vimeo-embedded video content, cookies for session management, and SendGrid for email distribution — with no public API, no disclosed SDK or integrations, and no proprietary technology beyond the membership platform itself.

The organization's business model is mutual and member-driven rather than commercial. Revenue is derived from membership fees and event ticket sales, with no external investment, no parent company, and no disclosed pricing. Governance is provided by an elected Board of Directors (2024-2026 term: Ron Yeoh as President, Eric Donnenfeld as Immediate-Past President, Vance Thompson as President-Elect, Ruth Lapid-Gortzak as Treasurer, Sri Ganesh as Secretary) and an Executive Director (Michael C. Knorz, based in Mannheim, Germany). Operations are supported from a registered London address and the Executive Director's office at FreeVis LASIK Zentrum in Mannheim, with no other disclosed offices, subsidiaries, or commercial lines of business.

Name

International Intraocular Implant Club

Legal name

International Intra-Ocular Implant Club

Website

https://iiiclub.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1966

Operating status

Operating

Short description

The International Intra-Ocular Implant Club is a UK-incorporated professional medical society, founded in 1966, that hosts an invitation-only global forum of approximately 100 master surgeons and industry leaders dedicated to intraocular lens implantation.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

The International Intraocular Implant Club (IIIC) is a private professional medical society that provides an invitation-only international forum for the exchange of ideas and knowledge between master surgeons and industry leaders dedicated to lens implantation surgery. Its core deliverable is a members-only website portal offering access to event announcements, photo galleries, a newsletter, an integrated event ticketing system, and a member directory, alongside periodic in-person events for networking, mentorship of junior members, and honoring of senior members.

Product overview

The International Intra-Ocular Implant Club operates a single unified website portal that serves as the primary platform for member services. The portal provides access to member-exclusive sections including event announcements, photo galleries, and newsletters. Members and recognized guests receive personal IIIC accounts to access these resources, while prospective members can request guest accounts. Event ticketing is integrated into the portal, allowing members to purchase tickets and download receipts. The organization does not offer distinct product lines or modules beyond this core member services platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• IIIC Website Member Portal

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• European Society of Ophthalmology (SOE): Pan-European ophthalmology congress and membership organization; covers all ophthalmology subspecialties but shares IIIC's European footprint and internationalist orientation toward advancing the specialty.
• American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO): World's largest association of ophthalmologists; overlaps with IIIC's mission of advancing eye surgery knowledge but serves all ophthalmology subspecialties and ~30,000+ members, far broader than IIIC's IOL-only focus.
• Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth): UK-based professional membership body for ophthalmologists, headquartered in London like IIIC; broader remit covering all ophthalmology but shares the membership-society structure serving consultant-level surgeons.
• International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO): Global umbrella organization for ophthalmology societies; aligned with IIIC's international mission of advancing eye care standards, though operating at a much larger federated scale.

Regional players

• Deutsche Ophthalmologische Gesellschaft (DOG): German Ophthalmological Society and one of the oldest medical specialty societies in the world; shares IIIC's connection to Mannheim-based Executive Director Knorz and the German ophthalmic research community.

Emerging players

• Outpatient Ophthalmic Surgery Society (OOSS): Society focused on ambulatory ophthalmic surgery centers; comparable niche membership-society model targeting ophthalmic surgeons in specific delivery settings, overlapping with IIIC's premium-IOL surgical focus.
• American-European Congress of Ophthalmic Surgery (AECOS): Invite-based, industry-supported ophthalmic surgery thought-leadership group; structurally the closest analog to IIIC's exclusive, master-surgeon-focused model, though broader in scope across ophthalmic surgery.

Direct peers

• Asia-Pacific Association of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (APACRS): Regional society covering cataract and refractive surgery across Asia-Pacific; overlaps with IIIC's international IOL focus and serves a growing membership base where IIIC's newer board members (Yeoh, Ganesh) also operate.
• American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS): US-based professional society for anterior segment surgeons; comparable member-driven model and shared focus on IOL innovation, refractive surgery education, and industry partnerships, though much larger and congress-driven.
• European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS): Leading European society for cataract and refractive surgery; the closest direct functional peer to IIIC, running major congresses, clinical guidelines, and educational programs in the exact IOL/implant space IIIC occupies.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 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 International Intraocular Implant Club