Eyewa, the Dubai and Riyadh-headquartered eyewear retailer, has raised $100 million in a Series C funding round led by General Atlantic.
The funding round also featured participation from Badwa Capital and Turmeric Capital, as announced today. This takes Eyewa’s total financing to date to about $130 million.
The investment by General Atlantic into the Middle Eastern retailer was first reported by The Information earlier this year.
Founded in 2017 by Mehdi Oudghiri and Anass Boumediene, Eyewa started by selling products from leading eyewear brands on its website but has since evolved into one of the largest eyewear retailers in the region, mainly selling eyewear from its in-house brands.
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The startup that started its offline expansion in 2021, with its first store in Dhahran, now runs 150 stores across Saudi, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman. It plans to use the latest funds to add another 100 stores in 2025, including expansion to Qatar.
In the next few months, Eyewa plans to open a production facility and fulfilment center in Riyadh. The new hub will include a warehouse and lens manufacturing facility, aimed at improving supply chain efficiency.
Anass Boumediene, co-founder and co-CEO of Eyewa, in a statement, said, “In a sector that had not seen much disruption in the past decade, our success in this funding round reflects not only the strength of our business model but also the spirit of innovation across the region’s startups as we continue to dream big and break new ground in our respective industries.”
Magrabi, a long-standing eyewear retailer founded in 1927, remains Eyewa’s primary competitor in the Middle East. The company recently merged with Rivoli, expanding its collective retail footprint to nearly 290 stores across the region.
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