News Briefs Archive

New Direct-to-Consumer Contact Lens Brand Raises $5 Million

August 8, 2018

Waldo, a direct-to-consumer contact lens brand founded in the United Kingdom, has secured $5 million (£3.7 million) in a Series A venture funding from various investors, including PROfounders Capital and YYX Ventures and Tectonic Capital, among others, according to an announcement.

This new investment will fuel ongoing international expansion in Europe and the U.S. markets. The brand launched 10 months ago in the UK, and reported its move into the U.S. with a Tweet and a post on the company journal, VMail reports.

Ashleigh Hinde, 29, founded Waldo with a mission to “provide the highest quality lenses to its customers without the price, hassle or friction involved with traditional distribution channels,” according to the announcement. In the U.S., Waldo is offering a free trial that includes 10 pairs of Waldo Original contact lenses. The cost of the shipping is $2.95, according to its web site. Follow-up orders are priced at $18 per box of 30 lenses, with free delivery.

Waldo ships its daily lenses to customers within 48 hours of ordering at the web site hiwaldo.com. Each month, Waldo replenishes a customer’s supply of lenses as needed. Waldo customers can accelerate, pause or cancel their subscription at any time. In the U.K. and Europe, Waldo said it has 50,000 daily lens wearers across 27 European countries. Last year, Waldo secured £1.3m of early funding from YYX Capital and Nigel Wray, among others.

“Waldo’s mission is to …. deliver a more customer-centric contact lens experience,” Hinde said in the announcement.

Sean Seton-Rogers, general partner at PROfounders Capital, said in the announcement: “We firmly believe that Waldo has the ability to become a globally leading, digitally-native brand in the contact lens space.”

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