Nuwa Capital has announced its first investment since its launch in February 2020. The firm has joined Wamda Capital and EQ2 Ventures in eyewa’s pre-Series B round.
Mehdi Oudghiri and Anass Boumediene co-founded eyewa in 2017, since then it has raised a total of $11.1 million. The startup is disrupting the traditional eyewear industry in the region. Eyewa’s goal is to simplify the eyewear shopping experience. Thus it provides an easy, affordable and trustworthy platform for sunglasses, prescription glasses and contact lenses.
Nuwa Capital’s vision is to support financially, strategically and operationally, founders reshaping the markets they operate in. It plans to do this with a focus on retail in the form of DTC (Direct-to-Consumer), Rapidly Digitizing Industries (RDI) such as healthcare, proptech, fintech, as well as SaaS. “We’ve built our thesis around backing founders who are driving rapid transformation within their respective industries and building for long term change, and that’s exactly what Anass and Mehdi are doing,” said managing partner Khaled Talhouni.
Primed for a post-pandemic world
The pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have seen scores of new customers transacting online for the first time, leading to an irreversible generational shift towards online purchasing.
“E-commerce companies with a DTC offering like eyewa are reinventing the retail experience by creating both an online and offline experience to interact with customers while remaining nimble enough to scale and optimize as needed. DTC remains one of the most under-leveraged opportunities in our region,” said Talhouni.
The company saw a surge in new customers looking for a better shopping experience and a more accessible, diverse line of products.
The founders will use the capital towards growth and to further cement their position as the leading online retailer in their segment.
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