Warby Parker, the NYC startup that took the eyewear industry by storm a decade ago, announced it has raised $245 million in fresh funding, bringing its valuation to $3 billion, as reported by TechCrunch. The round is a combination of a $125 million Series F and a $120 million Series G, neither of which were previously announced.
Investors of the round include D1 Capital Partners, Durable Capital Partners, T. Rowe Price and Baillie Gifford.
The last time Warby Parker raised money was a $75 million Series E round back in 2018. Around that time, the company had just achieved profitability and was valued at around $1.7 billion, managing to reach unicorn status in just five years — the average is seven.
Since then the company has done more than just sell fashionable, affordable glasses, it has managed to disrupt the entire industry. And it leans heavily on tech to do so. For instance, in 2017 the company launched its Prescription Check app, allowing users to extend their glasses prescription through a telehealth service long before the practice was popularized by the pandemic. Last year, it began using augmented reality to let users “try on” glasses with nothing more than their phone.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the company has pivoted its Buy a Pair, Give a Pair to provide personal protective equipment to both healthcare workers, particularly working in high-risk countries like India, sub-Saharan Africa and Bangladesh.
This latest round brings Warby Parker’s total funding raised to more than $535 million. The company currently has 125 brick-and-mortar locations across the United States and Canada, employing about 1,200 people, 250 of whom are in NYC according to its Built In page.
Warby Parker is also hiring, with several open positions in its product, operations, customer experience, engineering, financial and operations departments.
