Dubai-based eyewa raises $100M Series C, led by General Atlantic, to expand its footprint with 100 new stores

👓 Eyewa, a Dubai-based startup offering prescription glasses, sunglasses, blue light glasses, and contact lenses through a DTC e-commerce and retail platform across five Middle Eastern markets, has raised $100 million in a Series C round.

• The company was founded by Anass Boumediene, Mehdi Oudghiri, and Abdullah AlRugaib, all former Bain & Company consultants. Between 2015 and 2017, co-CEOs Boumediene and Oudghiri led Foodpanda’s regional operations under Rocket Internet and Delivery Hero, scaling the food-delivery business 50x in three years and taking it to profitability — an experience that inspired them to build Eyewa.

💰 Investor lowdown: The round was led by global growth investor General Atlantic, with participation from Badwa Capital and Turmeric Capital, bringing Eyewa’s total funding to $130 million since its 2017 launch.

• This funding aligns with General Atlantic’s push into the MENAT region, highlighted by its new Riyadh office. The firm has invested nearly $1 billion in the region, with stakes in companies like Property Finder and Trendyol Group.

⚙️ Breaking it down

Eyewa began as an e-commerce retailer for third-party eyewear brands but quickly pivoted to creating its own in-house brands, addressing unmet regional needs. Today, 96% of its revenue stems from these proprietary lines.

🐂 Bull case

While Boumediene hasn’t disclosed specific sales figures, Eyewa is profitable and experiencing over 50% year-over-year revenue growth.

• In 2021, the startup raised a $21 million Series B to expand its footprint.
• Since then, Eyewa has grown to 150 wholly-owned stores (no franchises) and employs 1,300 people, making it the largest eyewear retailer in Saudi Arabia by store count and the fastest-growing globally.

For comparison:

• Warby Parker took seven years to reach 100 stores.
• Lenskart achieved the same milestone in six years.

🥊 Competition

Eyewa’s biggest rival is Magrabi, a legacy retailer founded in 1927. Following its merger with Rivoli, Magrabi now operates nearly 290 stores across the region.

🔮 Flashforward

Eyewa plans to open 100 additional stores in six countries, with Qatar on the horizon in 2025. A new production facility and fulfilment centre in Riyadh will launch next quarter to support this rapid expansion.