About us

Founded in 1997 in Brescia, in the north of Italy, by engineer Armando Portesi, UNIVET started from scratch. It all began with manufacturing glasses for top global fashion brands and bringing the well-known Made in Italy regarding high quality and unique design features.

 

Our Vision

Our vision is to make inspiring and comfortable eyewear that becomes an extension of your eyes, improves your quality of life, and ensures enhanced performance

 

Our Team

Paolo Portesi
CEO - UNIVET Group

Atif Sarfraz
 CEO - UNIVET North America

univet group

2001 - Safety and Laser

In the first three years of its life, UNIVET established its first division:

  • SAFETY (including LASER applications)

From then on, the company worked to develop models that enabled it to compete initially on the national and then on the international market; the intuition to be the first to adopt the style and fit concepts into the safety and personal eye protection sector was right!

The protecting people philosophy became a mandate and a responsibility. Create, design, develop, manufacture, and provide reliable protection in any situation.

Medical and Cleanroom

In 2002, UNIVET established a Cleanroom as a new division, an environment for the pharmaceutical and medical manufacturing sectors. After adding a medical branch, redefined its SAFETY division as DENTAL SAFETY division for the North America market.

UNIVET has innovated the PPE safety eyewear market by investing, testing and developing new Personal Protective Equipment that plays a crucial role in industrial use, laser applications and medical fields.

2006 - Loupes plus...

 

The desire to keep growing and an awareness of new requirements that needed to be met led UNIVET to develop a new branch of its business:

The magnifying systems for surgery and dentistry are completely designed and produced internally, a perfect example of Made in Italy technique, research and innovation.

Constantly progressing and growing, in 2007, UNIVET founded a research and development (R&D) area with an in-house laboratory dedicated to the development of technologies, materials and coatings.

We have introduced the notion of stylish design to PPE. Attention to detail, a new concept of design-oriented and researching into ergonomics became the strengths of the models in the X-Generation collection.

AUGMENTED REALITY VISIONAR

UNIVET Group owns several high-tech patents regarding materials and coatings.
A couple of years ago, we established an augmented reality department, developing unique and innovative technologies.
In 2017, the 5.0 was the prototype of augmented reality safety glasses, which became the first worldwide certified (EN166 and ANSI Z87.1) and appreciated product on the market, VisionR (UNIVET Group trademark, 2019).

Combining all these divisions

into one brand — UNIVET Group — is greater than the sum of its parts.

In 2012, Paolo Portesi took it over from his father to successfully carry on; the UNIVET Group gained ground quickly, opening new offices in Germany, France, Russia, the UK, and three new branches in the United States, Canada and Brazil.

Thanks to the 100% Italian talent of our designers, our fitting and stylish products, UNIVET expanded its headquarters, opening a new warehouse and production area (more than 3,000 m²).

Today

 

UNIVET is successful in exporting and distributes products to more than 70 countries (65% of its global turnover).
The work ethic, discipline and investments in new technologies and people, over the years, have paid off.

UNIVET Group has become a market leader in Italy, and one of the top brands in the field of Loupes & Headlights, eye protection and innovative PPE solutions such as:

  • Spectacles and overspecs
  • Goggles
  • Face shields
  • Modern Italian design in safety glasses

 

Mission

Over the years, UNIVET has never lost its touch.

“We protect people by taking good care of their eyes”.

We protect workers’ vision in the various harshest environments and improve their performance; personalise eye protection, develop tailor-made solutions, adapt our expertise to the needs and requirements of the expanding markets (red dot Award 2020).

In a fashion-conscious era, fit and style are also important because these features can dramatically influence if workers make proper use of eyewear.

We believe that making eyewear (Safety PPE & Loupes) more comfortable and stylish means proper use - comfort and style are the keys -.

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