ALPHARETTA, Ga.—Visioneering Technologies Inc. (VTI), a medical device company based here, announced this week the opening of its fully underwritten initial public offering, which the company said will raise $33.3 million (Australian dollars).

The IPO proceeds will provide capital as VTI broadens the U.S. launch of its proprietary daily disposable contact lens called NaturalVue (etafilcon A) Multifocal 1 Day Contact Lenses (NaturalVue MF), which are used in two major vision care applications, presbyopia and pediatric myopia, the announcement said. The NaturalVue Multifocal lens was first pilot tested in the U.S. market in 2015.

In preparation for “a rapid post-IPO expansion of sales, including expansion of its sales team” and inventory levels, the company said it recently recruited former Bausch + Lomb executive Tony Sommer to “spearhead the growth of the sales force,” according to the announcement. Sommer previously was head of sales for the U.S. Vision Care division at Bausch + Lomb.

The IPO proceeds are expected to support a “further build out [of] the U.S. sales force to approximately 45 direct sales representatives over the 12 months following listing, and to further build inventory that will support the expanded sales effort,” the announcement noted.

In the IPO, VTI said it is offering for issue approximately 79.4 million CHESS Depositary Interests (CDIs), each representing an interest in one share of VTI’s Class A common stock. The offer is priced at 42 cents Australian per CDI, with an indicative market capitalization of approximately $88.2 million Australian (on a fully-diluted basis), according to the announcement. The CDIs will be quoted on the Australian Securities Exchange following the IPO.

The IPO is fully underwritten by Canaccord Genuity (Australia) Limited.

The NaturalVue MF contact lens, which the Food and Drug Administration has cleared, was sold successfully during its pilot launch in the U.S. market, according to the announcement. “Within 12 months of the pilot launch commencing, demand for the NaturalVue MF contact lenses far outpaced VTI’s ability to supply product with its then limited infrastructure, and 90 percent of patients who had been using the lenses long enough to use up their supplies reordered, indicating strong repeat purchasing,” the announcement noted. This led to a pre-IPO round of funding that raised $10.3 million (U.S. currency) in 2016 from institutional investors and others, the company stated.

VTI chief executive officer Dr. Stephen Snowdy said the company believes NaturalVue MF delivers “clear benefits to patients and eyecare professionals, which has resulted in a very strong pilot launch in the U.S. A successful IPO will provide the capital needed to deliver our products to more patients and to rapidly build on our current momentum by expanding the U.S. sales team. We also intend to obtain the necessary regulatory approvals and enter into distribution agreements in additional geographies, including Australia,” he added.

VTI said its “revolutionary optical design overcomes some of the major challenges associated with several existing presbyopia solutions by providing superior near, intermediate and distance vision, and is easy for eyecare professionals to fit to their patients. Clinical trials have shown NaturalVue MF to be strongly preferred over other widely used presbyopia solutions,” the announcement noted.