Mubasher: The pioneer startup eyewa plans to expand its business with $7.5 million (about AED 20 million) worth of investments.

The largest eyewear e-commerce in the Middle East region aims at implementing its vision of simplifying the eyewear shopping experience by providing an easy, affordable, and trustworthy platform for its customers that demand contact lenses, sunglasses, and prescription glasses.

Since its inception in August 2017 by Anass Boumediene and Mehdi Oudghiri, eyewa has grown from a team of two to twenty-five members, with plans to expand its operations within the coming few months.

“The Series A round, which brings the total funding to date to $8.6 million (approximately AED31.6 million), was led by Wamda Capital with participation from GS shop, Equitrust (the investment arm of Choueiri Group), French Partners, 500 startups, Usus Al Khawarizmi and Faith Capital,” according to a press release on Monday.

eyewa has been recently selected as one of the 100 Arab start-ups shaping the Fourth Industrial Revolution in 2019 by The World Economic Forum.

Anass Boumediene commented, “Eyewear is a $6 billion market in the MENA region, and it is not being serviced properly online. The penetration rate is less than 3-4% in this category, there is a lot of growth ahead of us.”

Mehdi Oudghiri further concluded, “Looking at global benchmarks of eyewear e-commerce, it is a winner takes it all vertical. Our series A will help us solidify our market leadership in eyewear in KSA and UAE, but also expand into other MENA markets.”