Middle East’s leading eyewear retailer Eyewa led the fundraising activity this week, securing a three-digit late-stage growth capital to scale its operations. Other key deals include Saudi Arabian cybersecurity firm Cipher, which raised a pre-IPO funding round.
Meanwhile, Flat6Labs, a seed and early-stage venture capital firm invested in 10 Saudi-based startups for its fourth Riyadh Seed Programme, investing across sectors including transportation, e-commerce, logistics, cybersecurity, SaaS, consumer tech, and talent acquisition. The startups that got seed capital include CAMION, Colada, Devsy, dPhish, Hollat, Mrrha, Fezlee, Cyberni, Units, and Zofa. With that, the Flat6Labs' Startup Seed Fund portfolio in Saudi Arabia rose to 41 since its inception in 2023. Each startup secured $133,000 in cash funding.
Eyewa, the UAE-based eyewear retailer secured $100 million in a Series C funding round, led by General Atlantic amid its plans to open a new production facility in Riyadh. The round also saw participation from Badwa Capital and Turmeric Capital.
The latest fundraising three years after it closed its $21 million Series B round in 2021, which was co-led by Kingsway and Nuwa Capital. Founded in 2017 by Mehdi Oudghiri and Anass Boumedien, eyewa has emerged as the Middle East’s largest online eyewear retailer, with headquarters in Riyadh and Dubai.
The company plans to open a production hub in Riyadh in the first quarter of 2025. The fully integrated facility will have an extensive warehouse space, fulfillment centre, and a lens manufacturing facility, according to the company. In May last year, General Atlantic had committed an undisclosed investment to Eyewa. It launched its first physical store in December 2020, transforming into an omnichannel retailer.
Saudi Arabia-based cybersecurity startup Cipher raised $13.3 million in a pre-IPO investment round from venture capital firm Impact46 to support growth.
Founded in 2018 by Thamer ALDhafiri, Cipher provides a range of services, including risk assessment, penetration testing, security awareness training, threat detection, rapid response, and recovery to ensure business continuity. It aims to utilize the funding to scale its growth.
Sylndr
Egypt-based online marketplace for used cars Sylndr secured a $7.46 million working capital facility, organised by the Investment Banking division of EFG Hermes, in a first asset-backed financing arrangement of its kind in Egypt. EFG Corp-Solutions, Bank NXT and EG Bank acted as lenders, amongst others.
Founded by Omar El Defrawy and Amr Mazen in November 2021, Sylndr is an automotive-focused e-commerce marketplace, allows customers to buy and sell their cars as well as find financing solutions. The additional capital will allow Slyndr to scale its operations and refine its business mode. The startup had raised a US$12.6 million pre-seed funding round in May 2022 led by RAED Ventures, with participation from Algebra Ventures, Nuwa Capital, and others.