Eye care groups: who is PE-backed?
129 optometry, ophthalmology and optical retail groups we have researched, grouped by label, with backers and sources.
PE-backed 30 Not PE, corporate-owned 30 Part of a health system 10 Group practice 59
Deep coverage: Dallas-Fort Worth eye care, where we checked every practice we could find.
PE-backed 30 groups
A private-equity firm holds a majority or minority stake in the practice or in the company that manages it, including the PE arms of sovereign and pension funds. Partial stakes count.
| Group | Owner / backers | Since | Known locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| MyEyeDr. (Capital Vision Services) | Goldman Sachs Alternatives; Charlesbank Capital Partners; Cohesive Capital Partners | 2019 | 2240 |
| AEG Vision (formerly Acuity Eyecare Group) | Riata Capital Group; J.P. Morgan Asset Management | 2017 | 1298 |
| EyeCare Partners (ECP) | Partners Group, with physician partners and management holding equity; lenders hold heavy debt | 2019 | 1278 |
| Keplr Vision | Imperial Capital Group; Golub Capital took part in an $80M funding round | 2017 | 645 |
| EyeSouth Partners | Olympus Partners; MoonSail Capital; physicians remain significant investors | 2022 | 570 |
| NVISION Eye Centers | Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan; founder Tom Tooma, MD | 2020 | 230 |
| Unifeye Vision Partners (UVP) | Waud Capital Partners; Morgan Stanley Private Credit with PGIM Private Capital | 2017 | 227 |
| Vision Innovation Partners (VIP) | Gryphon Investors | 2022 | 210 |
| Eye Health America (EHA) | LLR Partners | 2018 | 128 |
| SightMD (Sight Growth Partners) | Chicago Pacific Founders | 2018 | 107 |
| US Eye | Pamlico Capital | 2019 | 95 |
| Midwest Eye Consultants | Sentinel Capital Partners | 2021 | 65 |
| Ascend Vision Partners | Chicago Pacific Founders | 2022 | 53 |
| InFocus Eyecare | Regal Healthcare Capital Partners | 2022 | 48 |
| American Vision Partners | H.I.G. Capital | 2017 | 34 |
| Simon Eye | Brightstar Capital Partners; management retains meaningful stakes | 2026 | 25 |
| Key-Whitman Eye Center part of Surgery Partners | Surgery Partners Inc. Bain Capital holds ~39% of Surgery Partners. Pending: take-private by HealthSpan Partners, with Bain keeping a major stake | 2024 | 20 |
| HealthDrive | Cressey & Company | 2023 | 16 |
| Panorama Eyecare | Archimedes Health Investors; NewSpring Capital | 2021 | 16 |
| Covenant Physician Partners | KKR | 2021 | 14 |
| Midwest Vision Partners | Alpine Investors | 2019 | 13 |
| Parkhurst NuVision part of NVISION Eye Centers (JV) | Joint venture with NVISION Eye Centers; Dr. Gregory Parkhurst | 2024 | 4 |
| Comprehensive EyeCare Partners (CompEye) | Gauge Capital | 2018 | |
| EyeCare Services Partners (ESP) | Harvest Partners; management | 2017 | |
| ICON Eyecare / EVP Eyecare | Cortec Group | 2016 | |
| SouthEast Eye Specialists | Flexpoint Ford | 2017 | |
| Spectrum Vision Partners (Ophthalmic Consultants of Long Island / OCLI) | Blue Sea Capital | 2017 | |
| The Eye Health Group | Beverly Capital | 2021 | |
| Total Vision | Bregal Partners | ||
| Vision Integrated Partners | The Firmament Group | 2025 |
Not PE, corporate-owned 30 groups
Owned by a company that isn’t a PE fund: public companies and insurers, large family- or founder-owned companies whose owners aren’t the clinicians, family investment firms, and nonprofit insurers.
| Group | Owner / backers | Since | Known locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Vision Holdings | Public | 2017 | 2422 |
| LensCrafters part of EssilorLuxottica | EssilorLuxottica SA | 2018 | 1817 |
| Visionworks part of VSP Vision | VSP Vision | 2019 | 1659 |
| Target Optical part of EssilorLuxottica | EssilorLuxottica SA | 2018 | 1218 |
| Eyemart Express part of VSP Vision | VSP Vision | 2025 | 546 |
| Retina Consultants of America (RCA) part of Cencora | Cencora Inc., with RCA physicians and management holding a minority | 2025 | 515 |
| Shopko Optical part of Fielmann Group | Fielmann Group AG | 2024 | 207 |
| The LASIK Vision Institute (LVI) part of LasikPlus (Kismet New Vision Holdings) | Kismet New Vision Holdings LLC | 2020 | 182 |
| PRISM Vision Group part of McKesson | McKesson Corp., with physicians holding ~20% | 2025 | 115 |
| LasikPlus (LCA-Vision) | Joffe family; CEO Craig Joffe | 2015 | 91 |
| Optical Outlets part of VSP Vision | VSP Vision | 2023 | 85 |
| SVS Vision part of Fielmann Group | Fielmann Group AG | 2023 | 77 |
| VSP Ventures part of VSP Vision | VSP Vision | 68 | |
| Rosin Eyecare part of EssilorLuxottica | EssilorLuxottica SA | 53 | |
| SEE Eyewear | Founder Richard Golden and family | 44 | |
| Retina Consultants of Texas (RCTX) part of Retina Consultants of America (Cencora) | Cencora Inc.; RCTX physicians retain minority equity in RCA | 2025 | 39 |
| For Eyes part of EssilorLuxottica | EssilorLuxottica SA | 2021 | 36 |
| AdvantageCare Physicians part of EmblemHealth | EmblemHealth | 25 | |
| Bard Optical | Diana Hall | 1981 | 21 |
| Atrius Health part of Optum (UnitedHealth Group) | Optum | 2022 | 12 |
| Costco Optical part of Costco Wholesale | Costco Wholesale Corp. | ||
| Now Optics (Stanton Optical, My Eyelab) | Founder Daniel Stanton | ||
| Pearle Vision part of EssilorLuxottica | EssilorLuxottica SA; most stores owned by individual franchisees | 2018 | |
| Sam's Club Optical part of Walmart Inc. | Walmart Inc. | ||
| Standard Optical | Schubach family | ||
| TLC Laser Eye Centers part of LasikPlus (Kismet New Vision Holdings) | Kismet New Vision Holdings LLC | 2020 | |
| Vision Source part of EssilorLuxottica | EssilorLuxottica owns the network company; member practices are independently owned by ODs | 2015 | |
| Walmart Health part of Walmart Inc. | Walmart Inc. | ||
| Walmart Vision Center part of Walmart Inc. | Walmart Inc. | ||
| Warby Parker | Public; founder-led | 2021 |
Part of a health system 10 groups
Owned by a hospital or health system.
| Group | Owner / backers | Since | Known locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| GW Medical Faculty Associates | George Washington University faculty practice | 36 | |
| Johns Hopkins Medicine | Johns Hopkins University / Johns Hopkins Health System | 23 | |
| LifeBridge Health | LifeBridge Health | 23 | |
| University of Maryland Eye Associates part of University of Maryland Medical System | University of Maryland School of Medicine / University of Maryland Medical System | 22 | |
| Henry Ford Health | Henry Ford Health | 20 | |
| University Hospitals | University Hospitals | 19 | |
| Gundersen Health System part of Emplify Health | Gundersen Health System | 13 | |
| Avera Health | Avera Health | 11 | |
| UT Southwestern Medical Center | University of Texas System | 4 | |
| Parkland Health | Dallas County Hospital District | 3 |
Group practice 59 groups
A multi-office group owned by its dentists, doctors or vets, or a clinician-owned co-op, with no outside investor.
Groups whose owner we couldn’t confirm are left out. A group with no known locations may still operate many offices under local names.