Warby Parker raises $245 million for a $3 billion valuation
Eyeglasses startup Warby Parker has raised $245 million with investments from D1 Capital, Durable Capital Partners, T. Rowe Price, and Baillie Gifford.
A source familiar with the financing tells Fortune that the new funding values the company at about $3 billion, a sizable uptick compared to $1.75 billion following its valuation at its last announced funding in 2018.
As Warby Parker’s origin story goes, its founders were overcome with sticker shock when shopping around for new glasses, so they devised a way to lower prices and go direct-to-consumer. The brand took off, becoming a poster child of the e-commerce movement that would spawn many a “Warby Parker of X”s. In 2017, the company became profitable on an EBITDA basis for the first time since its founding in 2010.
While Warby Parker did not disclose more recent financials or updates on its performance amid the the pandemic, Warby Parker co-CEO Neil Blumenthal told CNN earlier this month that the company closed all 120 of its physical locations when the virus first hit stateside, representing a “big chunk of our revenue.” But, as many other brands also have experienced, online business “has gone gangbusters” he said, while most of the company’s stores have also reopened.
“We’re lucky to be in a category like glasses, which is a necessity,” Blumenthal said.
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