Brille24, a German online retailer for prescription eyeglasses, has closed an equity financing deal through its holding Tejado with growth investment firm TIME.
The company signed a financing deal with growth investment firm TIME for an amount of up to EUR12m, of which EUR7m is invested as of today.
Matthias Hunecke, who founded the company in 2007, remains the largest shareholder.
Brille24 offers prescription eyeglasses with the same quality as those sold by the traditional opticians, but at very affordable prices. The frames and corrective lenses are less than one fourth the average price of the traditional optician chains.
Since inception Brille24 has experienced a fast growth of its activity with revenue more than doubling over the last two years. It sold more than 220,000 pairs of prescriptions eyeglasses in 2011, mainly in Germany.
TIME investment provides the equity and expertise to the team to reinforce the leadership of Brille24 in Germany and accelerate the expansion in selected European countries.
Mario Zimmermann and Martin van Os, Brille24’s chief executive and chief financial officer, says: “Brille24 is entering a new phase through the further expansion of its product portfolio and geographical footprint. TIME management team has a solid pan-European managerial and entrepreneurial experience, a detailed understanding of the e-commerce industry and the capacity to support us in strategic decisions. As such, TIME is the partner of choice for Brille24 ambitious development.”
Jean-Luc Cyrot, partner at TIME Equity Partners, says: “Quality has always been the motto of Brille24 founder and management team. They have been visionary setting up partnerships with major optics industry players since inception. Strictly controlled by certified opticians, Brille24 eyeglasses benefit from the same social security and health insurance coverage as the eyeglasses from the traditional opticians networks. With its high product quality and outstanding value proposition Brille24 displays first-class customer satisfaction and repeat order rates.”
