Eyewa Funding, Investors & Competitors

Eyewa has raised $130M across 5 funding rounds, most recently a $100M Series C in November 2024.

See full Eyewa profile

Last Eyewa funding round

$100M

Series C · Nov 2024

Cumulative funding Eyewa raised

$130M

across 5 funding rounds

Key investors in Eyewa

  • 500 Global
  • Endeavor Catalyst
  • Wamda Capital
  • Nuwa Capital
  • EQ2 Ventures
  • French Partners
  • Bossa Invest
  • General Atlantic

Eyewa Overview

About Eyewa

Eyewa is a Riyadh-headquartered e-commerce platform specializing in eyewear sales across the Middle East. Customers purchase prescription glasses, sunglasses, blue-light reading glasses, and contact lenses with virtual try-on features and home trial services. Operating in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Egypt, Eyewa stocks brands like Ray-Ban, Oakley, and Vogue alongside house designs. Launched in 2018, the company partners with optical labs for custom lenses and delivers within 14 days. Eyewa raised over $28 million in funding from investors including Vision Ventures and Derayah Financial.


Founded

2017

HQ

UAEDubai

Website

eyewa.com

Status

Privately held

Customer focus

B2C

Revenue model

Product sales

Eyewa Funding History

Eyewa has raised a total of $130M across 5 funding rounds.

Eyewa's first fundraising round was a $1M seed round in January 2018. The most recent completed round was a $100M Series C in November 2024.

Eyewa funding rounds

Eyewa funding rounds
DateStageInvestorsRaisedDeal Summary
Nov 2024Series CGeneral Atlantic (lead); Badwa Capital; Turmeric Capital$100MEyewa, a Dubai- and Riyadh-headquartered eyewear retailer founded in 2017 by Anass Boumediene, Mehdi Oudghiri, and Abdullah AlRugaib, raised $100 million in its Series C funding round on November 27, 2024, led by General Atlantic with participation from Badwa Capital and Turmeric Capital, bringing total funding to $130 million. The company operates as an omnichannel retailer offering prescription glasses, sunglasses, contact lenses, and blue light glasses through e-commerce and physical stores across GCC markets, positioning itself as the Middle East's largest and fastest-growing eyewear retailer with over 150 stores, nearly 100 in Saudi Arabia. It has launched proprietary brands and sub-brands like The Optical Club for affordable options after starting with third-party brands. The new capital will fuel expansion, including 100 new stores in 2025 and a pioneering production hub in Riyadh opening in Q1 2025, featuring warehouse, fulfillment, and lens manufacturing facilities. This follows rapid growth from its first physical store in December 2020 and a prior undisclosed investment from General Atlantic earlier in 2024, after a $21 million Series B in 2021 co-led by Kingsway and Nuwa Capital. Eyewa's model emphasizes style, quality, affordability, and local market tailoring, blending strong e-commerce with deep physical presence. Investors highlighted Eyewa's disruptive business model, innovation in a stagnant sector, and strong growth trajectory amid rising consumer demand for direct-to-consumer brands in the MENAT region. General Atlantic, managing around $100 billion in assets, is expanding in the area via its Riyadh office and sees Eyewa leading the GCC eyewear space. Turmeric Capital, with a board seat, backs the company's ambitious retail transformation.
Mar 2021Series BKingsway Capital (lead); Nuwa Capital (lead); Derayah Venture Capital; Hardy Capital Partners; Palm Drive Capital; Endeavor Catalyst; French Partners; Bossa Invest$19MEyewa is a Dubai-headquartered eyewear startup founded in 2017 by Mehdi Oudghiri and Anass Boumediene, operating as the Middle East's largest online eyewear retailer with an omnichannel model blending e-commerce and physical stores. The company raised $21 million in its Series B funding round around November 2021, co-led by Kingsway Capital and Nuwa Capital, with participation from Bossa Invest (noted as French Partners in some sources), Derayah Venture Capital (Derayah Ventures), Endeavor Catalyst, Hardy Capital Partners, and Palm Drive Capital. This brought Eyewa's total funding to approximately $30 million, following a $1.1 million seed round in 2018 and $7.5 million Series A in 2019. The funds were earmarked for expanding into offline retail with physical stores, further market penetration in existing Middle East and North Africa regions like Saudi Arabia, UAE, and others in the GCC, and investments in top-tier technology, product teams, retail, and omnichannel capabilities. Eyewa launched its first physical store in December 2020 in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, aligning with its vision to become a full omnichannel retailer offering exclusive products at accessible prices and leveraging technology in customer interactions. Investors highlighted Eyewa's execution in combining offline, online, and private label-driven commerce, positioning it as a regional champion in direct-to-consumer eyewear.
Aug 2020Series BEQ2 Ventures (lead); Nuwa Capital (lead); Wamda Capital (lead); Endeavor Catalyst$3MEyewa raised $21 million in Series B in 2021 led by Nuwa Capital and Kingsway Capital. Eyewa raised $100 million in Series C in May 2024 led by General Atlantic.
Apr 2019Series AEQ2 Ventures (lead); Wamda Capital (lead); GS Shop; Faith Capital; Khwarizmi Ventures; French Partners; 500 Global$8MEyewa, a UAE-based eyewear e-commerce platform specializing in sunglasses, eyeglasses, prescription contact lenses, and color contact lenses, raised $7.5 million in a mid-2019 Series A round led by EQ2 Ventures and Wamda Capital, along with investors including 500 Global, Faith Capital, French Partners, GS Shop, and Khwarizmi Ventures. This followed a $1.1 million seed round in 2018. The company focused on trendy eyewear at affordable prices with a customized online shopping experience in the MENA region, particularly UAE and KSA. By 2020, Eyewa had become the largest online eyewear retailer in UAE and KSA, with business doubling during the pandemic lockdown as customers shifted to online shopping. A subsequent $2.5 million pre-Series B bridge round in August 2020 from Wamda Capital, EQ2 Ventures, and Nuwa Capital brought total funding to $11.1 million, used to accelerate expansion, innovative tech solutions, product portfolio growth, and customer service in MENA's eyewear retail sector. Eyewa continued scaling, raising $100 million in a Series C round in 2024 led by General Atlantic, with total funding reaching $129.6 million across multiple rounds. Plans included opening over 100 new stores in 2025 to reach 250 locations across GCC, a production hub in Riyadh, and investments in R&D and talent.
Jan 2018Seed500 Global (lead); EquiTrust (lead)$1M-

Who has invested in Eyewa?

18 investors have backed Eyewa across its funding rounds, including 500 Global, Endeavor Catalyst, Wamda Capital, Nuwa Capital, EQ2 Ventures and French Partners.

Lead investors include General Atlantic, Kingsway Capital, Nuwa Capital, EQ2 Ventures, Wamda Capital and 2 other investors.


Eyewa Investors

Investors in Eyewa by funding rounds participated
InvestorHQRoundsRoleFirst check
EQ2 VenturesUAEUAE2LeadApr 2019
Wamda CapitalUAEDubai2LeadApr 2019
Nuwa CapitalUAEDubai2LeadAug 2020
Endeavor CatalystUnited StatesNew York City, NY2ParticipantAug 2020
French PartnersSwitzerlandGeneva2ParticipantApr 2019
500 GlobalUnited StatesSan Francisco, CA2LeadJan 2018
Derayah Venture CapitalSaudi ArabiaRiyadh1ParticipantMar 2021
GS ShopSouth KoreaSeoul1ParticipantApr 2019
Faith CapitalKuwaitHawalli1ParticipantApr 2019
Hardy Capital PartnersCanadaVancouver1ParticipantMar 2021
EquiTrustUnited StatesDes Moines, IA1LeadJan 2018
Badwa CapitalUAEDubai1ParticipantNov 2024
Palm Drive CapitalUnited StatesNew York City, NY1ParticipantMar 2021

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Eyewa Competitors

Eyewa competitors include listed companies like Alibaba Group, Carvana, Shein and JD Health, and private ones like Kavak and Valentino.

Public and private companies comparable to Eyewa
CompanyHQStatusRevenueEBITDAValuationRevenue Multiple
Alibaba GroupChinaChinaPublicly listed$153B$15B$266B1.6x
CarvanaUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$20B($110M)$72B2.9x
SheinChinaChinaPublicly listed$42B$2.3B$21B-
JD HealthChinaChinaPublicly listed$11B$713M$14B0.6x
KavakMexicoMexico CityPrivate$750M-$8.7B11.6x
ValentinoUnited StatesItaly, TXPrivate$1.6B$402M$5.8B3.6x

Eyewa Public Comps

Eyewa is still privately-owned, but its public comps include Amazon, Tencent, Alibaba Group, Pinduoduo, MercadoLibre, Carvana, Sea, JD.com, Coupang and LY Corporation.

Last FYEV/RevenueEV/EBITDA
RevenueEBITDALast FYLTM2027ELast FYLTM2027E
Amazon$717B$161B3.9x3.5x17.5x13.8x
Tencent$112B$51B4.5x4.2x9.9x9.9x
Alibaba Group$153B$15B1.7x1.6x17.5x13.0x
Pinduoduo$64B$14B0.7x0.7x3.1x2.8x
MercadoLibre$29B$3.7B3.5x2.6x27.2x25.1x
Carvana$20B($110M)3.7x2.9x(691.4x)27.7x
Sea$23B$2.4B2.5x2.0x24.3x16.5x
JD.com$195B$4.3B0.1x0.1x6.7x6.7x

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Common questions about Eyewa

When was Eyewa founded?Eyewa was founded in 2017.
Where is Eyewa headquartered?Eyewa is headquartered in Dubai, UAE.
Is Eyewa publicly listed?No, Eyewa is a private, VC-backed company.
How much funding has Eyewa raised?Eyewa has raised $130M across 5 funding rounds.
What was Eyewa's last funding round?Eyewa's last funding round was a $100M Series C in November 2024, led by General Atlantic.
Who are Eyewa's investors?Eyewa's investors include EQ2 Ventures, Wamda Capital, Nuwa Capital, Endeavor Catalyst, French Partners, 500 Global, Derayah Venture Capital, GS Shop, Faith Capital, Hardy Capital Partners and 8 others.
Which companies are comparable to Eyewa?Companies comparable to Eyewa include Alibaba Group, Carvana, Shein, JD Health, Kavak and Valentino.

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