How Powerplay Helped PlenOptika Scale Qualified Pipeline by 5x

With a category-defining medical device and growing demand for low-cost eye care, PlenOptika needed a scalable go-to-market motion. Powerplay's outbound engine—driven by AI enrichment, tailored messaging, and proof-driven narrative—not only increased qualified meetings by 5x within 45 days, it unlocked new distribution channels across LATAM, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

"We direly needed sales development, but didn’t have the capacity to build out these systems ourselves. Powerplay handled all the lead sourcing, positioning, and follow-up so we could just stay focused on closing deals. It was plug-and-play in the best sense."
— John Strobel, VP of Sales, PlenOptika

The startup

PlenOptika is the maker of QuickSee™, a breakthrough portable autorefractor that makes affordable vision care accessible to low-resource communities. Backed by the Gates Foundation and Tata Trusts, the MIT-spun startup is redefining the future of global eye care—partnering with NGOs, hospitals, and public health institutions around the world.

The opportunity

Despite strong product-market fit and successful pilots, PlenOptika’s growth was bottlenecked by outdated GTM systems. It's inbound channels were saturated and inconsistent—producing scattered leads across continents without qualification.

PlenOptika’s lean commercial team was stretched thin. Sales was led by a two-person team. They had no dedicated SDRs, no prospecting infrastructure, and no scalable process for identifying or engaging new stakeholders at government or NGO levels.

Lead sourcing was manual—driven by conference lists, personal networks, and cold LinkedIn outreach. Email follow-up was irregular. Messaging was inconsistent. As a result, high-value opportunities were slipping through the cracks, and the sales team spent more time qualifying unfit leads than closing aligned ones.

To make matters worse, the nature of their sales cycle demanded multi-stakeholder buy-in and deep product education. All of this added up to significant hurdles in the team's goal to scale beyond $1M in retail sales annually.

"This was a true partnership from the beginning. Powerplay helped us really home in on how we sell and who we sell to. It’s been a force multiplier for our team."
— John Strobel, VP of Sales, PlenOptika

Scaling pipeline with Powerplay's outbound engine

To help the PlenOptika team meet its aggressive revenue goals, Powerplay went to work implementing its outbound engine. We helped PlenOptika go-to-market and scale pipeline in four critical ways.

1. ICP + TAM Mapping

We began by analyzing PlenOptika’s highest-performing customer segments to identify four distinct ICPs, across both global public health and domestic clinical markets.

Using data from public funding records, grant databases, and global NGO partnerships, we mapped a TAM of over 35,000 accounts with active mission alignment and purchasing authority.

2. Lead Generation & Enrichment

Rather than relying on static lead lists, we developed a dynamic sourcing process focused on accuracy, relevance, and buyer readiness. This allowed us to identify the right buyers at the right time.

• Targeted Contact Identification. Using tools like LinkedIn, Apollo, and Clay, we identified specific decision-makers (at scale)—clinic owners, medical directors, and procurement leads—who matched our tightly defined ICP criteria.

• Contextual Enrichment. We enriched each lead with program-level context—such as grant activity, global health partnerships, clinic affiliations, and geographic focus. This gave us a clear picture of the buyer’s operating environment, and helped us tailor messaging accordingly.

• Timing-Based Signals. We monitored external signals like recent funding announcements, pilot launches, procurement cycles, and expansion news to prioritize outreach during windows of active interest or purchasing intent.

This approach allowed for more relevant outreach and better alignment between sales efforts and real buyer priorities.

"What impressed me most was the messaging. From the jump, they really took the time to understand our mission and product. This really helped on demos. I'd get on the call and the customer had understood our value prop."
— John Strobel, VP of Sales, PlenOptika

3. Narrative-Driven Messaging

We developed buyer-specific messaging frameworks that blended:

• Emotional urgency: Mission-driven impact, public health equity, regional access to care

• Rational value: Portable accuracy, faster patient screening, WHO-aligned standards

• Proof points: Case studies from India, peer-reviewed accuracy validation, successful NGO pilots

• Soft CTAs: No-pitch outreach asking for a learning conversation, not a sale

All messaging was adapted across the buyer journey, from awareness to active consideration.

4. Multi-Channel Outbound Deployment

Once the right prospects were identified and enriched, we activated a multi-channel outreach strategy—balancing professional presence with direct engagement.

LinkedIn Outreach

Powerplay used LinkedIn to build warm, human connections—connecting with decision-makers through thoughtful, personalized messages. These weren’t automated spam blasts, but tailored intros aligned with each prospect’s role, region, and priorities. Though the messaging was personazlied, Powerplay's AI-driven outbound platform still allowed PlenOptika to reach its ideal customers on LinkedIn at scale.

Email Marketing

In parallel, Powerplay launched targeted email sequences with clear, relevant messaging. Each email was informed by the prospect’s context—like their clinic type, location, or public health work—and written in a conversational tone to encourage replies rather than push a pitch.

The two channels worked together: LinkedIn built awareness and trust, while email drove direct responses and meeting conversions. This multi-touch approach made it easier for prospects to engage on their terms, and helped PlenOptika stay top of mind without being intrusive.

The Powerplay team then qualified and triaged replies, scheduled meetings, and routed hot leads directly to PlenOptika’s CRM and sales team.

The Results

In just 60 days, Powerplay’s outbound engine delivered:

• 5x increase in qualified meetings per month, which helped the PlenOptika team drastically exceed its revenue goals.

• $1.2M+ in qualified pipeline generated across U.S. and international segments.

• 10+ new regional opportunities with distributors and NGO partners

• Meetings with UNICEF-funded programs and WHO-affiliated procurement teams

• Warm sales conversations with distributors in Brazil, Kenya, and Indonesia

• Reply rate of 9.4% and positive response rate of 34%

"Powerplay brought structure and scale to our prospecting. The difference was immediate. We’re now consistently speaking with decision-makers that we couldn't previously reach."
— John Strobel, VP of Sales, PlenOptika

What's Next

PlenOptika is now working with Powerplay on expanding outbound into Spanish-language markets, building out country-specific narrative frameworks, and launching inbound content to support demand creation.