Slovak eye wear online shop selling exclusive corrective, sun and sports glasses, Eyerim raises 1.5 million Euros from Inovo Venture Partner and 3TS Capital Partners Fund, local media reported. Inovo Venture Partner invested 800.000 Euros, while 3TS Capital Partners Fund, the fund that has previously supported Eyerim, invested 700.000 Euros. Reportedly the startup will use the money to increase their share on the existing markets and to further expand and enter new ones hoping to reach the founder vision: Eyerim to become a 100 milion euros worth company.
“We are building a brand that can become iconic. In five years we want to become a business with a value of 100 million euros, ” says Martin Zahuranec, founder of Eyerim in a statement made for Slovak Forbes.
The Investment comes as part of the latest operation that Inovo Venture Partners has started, planning to make 15 transaction in the next 5 years with Eyerim being the very first one.
According to the media reports, the investment is supported not only with money, but also with transfer of knowledge and good practices. Being both the idea and the development stage of the startup the main criteria for investing, the latter was decisive when it comes to Eyerim. In just three years since it was founded, the company is already operating in 17 countries worldwide and increased their sales by 360% according to startitup.sk.
“At the beginning of the fund’s existence, we invested in companies at both the idea and development stages. It turns out that the latter has generated and continues to bring much higher returns. We have observed that these entrepreneurs constitute a large group and are looking for several million support. Unfortunately, such amount for the majority of Polish funds is too high, and global ones are not yet interested in companies at an early stage of development. This niche brings us a huge potential. And Eyerim is exactly that kind of company” says Tomasz Swieboda, president of Inovo Venture Partners, Polish Business Insider reported.
Founded in 2015 by Martin Zahuranec and Yassaman Omidbakhsh, Eyerim is eye wear e-retailer operating in CEE region. The startup is recognized as the biggest and fastest growing eyepiece shop in the CEE region, currently operating in 17 countries worldwide, with according to Forbes, a posted revenue for 2017 at 3.3 million Euros. According to the company’s info, Eyerim is authorized partner of Luxottica & Safilo. To date the startup is backed by renowned investment funds such as Inovo Venture Partners, 3TS Capital Partners and Neulogy VC. Last year 3TS Capital Partners invested 1,5 million euros, while Neulogy VC supported the start up with 200.000 euros. At the moment, one of the most popular solutions that Eyerim offers is the virtual fitting room, which makes it easier for users to choose the right shape of frames and sunglasses available on the website.
Inovo Venture Partners on the other hand is a series A fund focused on Poland and CEE. The VC select comapnies with potential to win international markets. At the moment the company manages assets of 30 million zł (€6.79 million), funds that will be used on investing in innovative companies with high potential for growth. According to their website, their team is experienced in running companies, strategic consulting, and financing. The VC was founded in 2012 by Tomasz Swieboda and is based in Warsaw. At the moment in their team are the most-known figures of the Polish startup scene, including Stefan Batory (Booksy), Tomasz Nowiński (Travelist), Marcin Tchórzewski (Coders Lab), Krzysztof Dębowski (SARE, Senuto), Jakub Górski and Maciej Grzonkowski (Cubiware). Apart from them, investors in the fund are entrepreneurs who created the largest Polish companies and the fund is continuously in talks with potential investors.
