Dubai and Riyadh-headquartered eyewear retailer Eyewa has raised $100 million in a Series C funding round led by General Atlantic, with participation from Badwa Capital and Turmeric Capital, it announced today. The round takes its 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, former Bain consultants who previously led Delivery Hero’s food delivery business in the Middle East, 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 own in-house brands.
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 fulfillment 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 their collective retail footprint to nearly 290 stores across the region.
Update – Nov 27, 2024 – 8:20 AM GMT: A previous version of the article mistakenly noted that General Atlantic also invested in Lean. It was General Catalyst that invested in them.
- Saudi’s Orbii raises $3.6 million in Prosus-led seed to help banks and fintechs launch SME lending - September 8, 2025
- Egypt’s TradeHub shuts down, returns remaining capital to investors after failing to achieve product-market fit - September 7, 2025
- Dubai’s WheelsOn raises $12.5 million in debt and equity for its deposit-free car rental platform - September 7, 2025
