Eyewear startup Eyewa raised additional undisclosed funding from General Atlantic
According to the media, a Dubai-based startup company that makes eyewear has covertly raised additional capital from renowned US private equity firm General Atlantic. Although it was made earlier this year, the investment in Eyewa has not yet been made public by the company. The details of the round, such as its size and the identity of any additional investors, are not immediately apparent.
The company’s most recent publicly disclosed investment round was a $21 million Series B led by Kingsway and Nuwa Capital, which it obtained in June 2021.
Since then, Eyewa’s network of stores has grown significantly, reaching over 120, with almost 100 of those locations in Saudi Arabia. In Dahran, the startup launched its first store in 2021.
Mehdi Oudghiri, the co-founder and co-CEO of Eyewa, told media that they expanded into retail to be as close as possible to their customers. “We started as an ecommerce company because that is where the biggest market gap was, as no one was offering high-quality and affordable eyewear products online with a good customer experience. Expanding our reach to offline will complement our strong online presence and cement our position as a leading player in the eyewear industry.”
Mehdi Oudghiri and Anass Boumediene founded Eyewa in 2017. The company offers eyewear through its website, mobile apps, and retail stores, including prescription glasses, sunglasses, blue light glasses, color contact lenses, and corrective contact lenses. In addition to selling international fashion labels like Hugo, Tommy Hilfiger, and Guess, the startup also sells glasses and lenses under its own brands, Blackout, Layala, and 30Sundays.
At the moment, it operates a retail store and an online store in each of the six GCC markets, selling its goods all over the region. Eyewa claims to be the biggest online retailer of eyewear in the area on its website.
General Atlantic’s second investment in the area is called Eyewa. In 2018, the proptech startup Property Finder raised $120 million under the leadership of a PE firm.
