Rahul Jaggi and Isac Sedaka on building the eyewear brand a new generation has been waiting for. A Category Overdue for Change Rahul Jaggi and co-founder Isac Sedaka had a simple mission: build the eyewear brand that a new generation of consumers had been waiting for. For Jaggi, the idea was person al. As a lifelong prescription glasses wearer, he noticed something that had never sat right with him — premium eyewear had always been an out of reach market for most people. A category worn every single day, that is as much a part of how you present yourself to the world as anything else you wear, came with a price point that made it feel exclusive by design. And the moment a prescription entered the picture, the cost climbed even further. He knew the consumer was there — a generation with an eye for design and value, that knew quality when they saw it, and was done settling in every other category. Eyewear just hadn’t caught up. Jaggi decided to change that. Building Velenci Jaggi and Sedaka launched Velenci on a direct-to-consumer model — offering premium, design-forward frames with prescription included, at a price point that high-end brands have never made accessible to consumers. “I wanted to solve something that existed for me personally — I just knew I wasn’t the only one,” says Jaggi. Every frame Velenci makes is designed in-house, drawing inspiration from European eyewear markets where frames have always been treated as a genuine expression of personal style. Each design is built around the consumer, and by staying direct-to-consumer, Velenci keeps costs controlled at every step — so the price the customer pays actually reflects the product they are getting. No wholesale markup, no retailer cut, no prescription as an afterthought. “People were already looking for something like Velenci. We just gave it a name.” says Sedaka Navigating a crowded market   Breaking into the eyewear industry was no small feat. Established players dominate the market, and building a brand that could compete on both quality and price required getting every part of the operation right from the start. “The market was crowded, but it wasn’t serving the consumer we were building for. That was all the space we needed,” says Jaggi. Younger consumers don’t shop the way previous generations did. They research, they compare, they expect transparency — and they have little patience for an eyewear industry that never evolved to meet them. Velenci was built around that shift. The entire process, from discovery to checkout, is designed to feel modern, personal, and worth their time. That meant stripping away everything that made the traditional experience frustrating — the hidden costs, the upsells, the feeling that the brand was working against you rather than for you. Velenci wanted the customer to feel like they were buying into something that was genuinely built for them. Because it was. One of the most deliberate decisions Jaggi made was how Velenci handles prescription lenses. Most eyewear brands treat the prescription as an add-on — a separate cost that gets layered on top of an already premium price tag. For consumers who need vision correction, that has always felt like a penalty for something they have no control over. Velenci flipped that model entirely. Prescription is included in the price of every frame. No upcharges, no surprises at checkout. Jaggi’s position was straightforward — consumers shouldn’t have to pay extra for vision correction. It is not an upgrade. That is the whole point. “We built Velenci around the idea that the price you see is the price you pay. That shouldn’t be a differentiator in this industry — but it is,” says Jaggi. “Frames are very personal. We wanted every part of the experience to reflect that.”  Bringing Velenci to Life For Jaggi and Sedaka, building Velenci was never just about creating a great online experience. From the beginning, he believed the brand needed to exist in the real world too — in spaces where people could actually try the frames, feel the quality, and connect with what Velenci stands for. Earlier this year, Velenci concluded an over month-long pop-up in SoHo, NY. When customers tried the frames in person, something clicked in a way that no digital experience could replicate. “There is something that happens when someone puts on a pair of Velenci frames for the first time. That moment is what we are chasing,” says Jaggi. The future of Velenci isn’t purely online or purely in-person — it’s both. More activations are already in the works as Jaggi looks to deepen the brand’s presence with the consumers it was built for. “We want people to experience Velenci, not just buy it. That’s the difference.” Visit Velenci.com or follow the brand HERE  to find your perfect frame and see how they are changing how we see eyewear.   The post From Friends to Founders: The Story Behind Velenci appeared first on LA Weekly. ...read more read less