Online eyeglasses company Warby Parker just raised a $60 million Series C round from its existing investors, with Tiger Global Management leading. General Catalyst Partners, Spark Capital, Thrive Capital and First Round Capital also reinvested.
It is likely that the company wasn’t short on cash before raising this round. But the momentum was right for the company as receiving new cash from existing investors is a great vote of confidence. Warby Parker plans to increase its customer support team. As Zappos showed everyone, having a great support team is an important asset when it comes to large-scale specialized e-commerce companies.
The startup first started as a way to get cheaper glasses. Instead of selling traditional brands, Warby Parker chose to go directly to the manufacturers in China and work with them. By removing the middleman and selling exclusively on its website, the startup became very competitive while maintaining healthy margins. Recently, the company put a toe in the water by opening a bricks-and-mortar store in New York. But the website remains the main retail location.
As a reminder, the company raised $41.5 million in January. Warby Parker now has enough cash to do small acquisitions. But it’s still unclear whether an IPO is in the works.
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