Pair Eyewear has raised a $12 million Series A to assist glasses-wearing youngsters and adults flip these glasses into what co-CEO Sophia Edelstein referred to as “a form of self-expression.”
After all, Edelstein (who based the corporate along with her co-CEO Nathan Kondamuri) famous that “you’re spending a lot of money on [glasses], and then you’re stuck with that choice, unlike everything else you wear.”
Pair Eyewear offers extra flexibility by turning a pair of glasses right into a two-piece ensemble. There’s the underlying base body, which incorporates your prescription lenses, after which quite a lot of high frames that connect magnetically — you possibly can swap out them out for a brand new look everytime you need.
“You can be loud one day and more subtle the next,” Edelstein mentioned.
The startup releases three new restricted version collections of high frames every month, and it’s additionally struck partnerships to create branded high frames tied to Marvel, Harry Potter and NBA groups.
“Our average customer owns five of these top frames, but the range is incredible,” Edelstein added. “Some people have over 90 of them, and they’ve completely covered their fridge at home.”
The funding was led by Alex Gurevich at Javelin Venture Partners, with participation from Norwest Venture Partners, Precursor Ventures, Gingerbread Capital, NFL participant Christian McCaffrey, Masterclass CEO David Rogier and others.
Gurevich, who’s becoming a member of Pair’s board of administrators, advised me that the concept was one thing that resonated with him personally. He recalled struggling to persuade his four-year-old son to put on the glasses wanted for his astigmatism — and solely succeeding after telling his son that they’d make him seem like Clark Kent.
“A few weeks later, I met with the team and they literally me showed me Spider-Man and Superman glasses,” Gurevich mentioned. “I said, ‘I’ve been trying to convince my kid to wear glasses! If I’d had these, it would have been game over.’”
Gurevich mentioned he was additionally impressed by the group (“I was blown away by how passionate Sophia and Nathan are about building a lasting, iconic consumer brand”) and the enterprise mannequin. After all, he mentioned this appears to be like like the primary profitable try and carry the “printer and cartridge, razor blade, high repeat usage model” to glasses.
Pair Eyewear founders Nathan Kondamuri and Sophia Edelstein
Pair expenses $60 for a base body after which $25 for every further Top Frame. The firm accepts funds from HSA and FSA accounts, and prospects may also get reimbursed as an out-of-network imaginative and prescient insurance coverage profit — however Edelstein mentioned that with the glasses priced effectively under the $300 common, many individuals don’t hassle.
Apparently Pair is ready to supply these financial savings due to its distinctive manufacturing course of, in addition to its rejection of “industry standard” markups.
“We still retain incredible margins on the base frames and on the lenses,” she mentioned.
Since showing (and receiving funding) on Shark Tank in March of final yr, Pair has has been seeing 30% month-over-month development. Edelstein argued that this exhibits the enterprise is “recession-proof,” and that persons are fascinated about customizable eyewear even when it’s simply to indicate off on a Zoom name or to take pleasure in at dwelling.
Pair was initially centered on kids’s eyewear, however 60% of the corporate’s purchases at the moment are for adults — and that’s although all 5 of the bottom frames had been initially designed for kids, and solely two of them really match adults. Edelstein mentioned that the brand new funding will enable the group to proceed increasing the product lineup, notably with extra choices for these adults.
