Eyewa
Eyewear retailer with dual headquarters in Dubai and Riyadh, selling glasses, sunglasses and contact lenses through its own brands online and in its own stores. Founded in 2017, it raised a $100 million Series C in November 2024.
Industry: Eyewear retail | Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates | Founded: 2017 | Total Funding: USD 129.6M
About Eyewa
Eyewa is an eyewear retailer with dual headquarters in Riyadh and Dubai. It sells prescription glasses, sunglasses, blue light glasses and contact lenses online and through its own stores. Its website advertises click and collect from more than 260 stores, and its careers page describes a network across six countries and more than 30 cities.
Mehdi Oudghiri and Anass Boumediene founded Eyewa in 2017. TechCrunch reported in November 2024 that the two had led Foodpanda's regional operations from 2015 to 2017 and that, with Abdullah AlRugaib, all three were former Bain and Company consultants. Oudghiri and Boumediene are co-chief executives, according to the careers page, and AlRugaib was named co-founder and managing director in the company's November 2024 announcement.
The company began as an online seller of third-party brands and opened its first physical store in December 2020. TechCrunch reported in November 2024 that it had 150 stores, all owned and operated by Eyewa with no franchises, in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman. The same report said nine own brands generated 96 percent of revenue. Brands shown on its website include BlackOut, 30Sundays and Spectus.
Eyewa raised a seed round of $1.1 million in 2018 led by EQ2 Ventures and a $7.5 million Series A in 2019 led by Wamda Capital. In June 2021 it closed a $21 million Series B co-led by Kingsway and Nuwa Capital, with Endeavor Catalyst among the participants. On 27 November 2024 it announced a $100 million Series C led by General Atlantic, with Badwa Capital and Turmeric Capital participating. TechCrunch put total funding at $130 million and reported that the company was profitable, with revenue growing more than 50 percent a year.
The company said the Series C would fund at least 100 new stores in 2025, with Qatar as the next market, and a Riyadh production hub with a warehouse, fulfilment centre and lens manufacturing facility. Its careers page now states that it employs more than 1,500 people of 49 nationalities.
Leadership
- Anass Boumediene, Co-founder
- Mehdi Oudghiri, Co-founder
- Abdullah AlRugaib, Co-founder and Managing Director
- Ziyad Baeshen, Board member; Vice President, General Atlantic
- Abdulaziz Alfalih, Board member; Partner, Badwa
- Fabio Andreottola, Board member; Partner, Turmeric Capital