Warby Parker, the US-headquartered eyewear retailer backed by payment services firm American Express, went public yesterday in a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
The company set a reference price of $40.00 for its shares, which opened at $54.05 and closed at $54.49, equating to a market capitalisation just over $6.1bn. No new shares were issued and none of its largest shareholders have disclosed sales.
Founded in 2010, Warby Parker sells eyewear both through its online platform and a network of brick-and-mortar outlets.
The company increased revenue 53% year on year to just over $270m for the first six months of 2021 and cut its net loss from $10m to $7.3m in the process. The listing came in the wake of $535m in funding.
American Express unit American Express Ventures took part in Warby Parker’s $41.5m series B round in 2013 with General Catalyst, Spark Capital, Thrive Capital, Menlo Ventures, Millard S Drexler and existing backer Tiger Global Management, while Lerer Hippeau, First Round and SV Angel were all earlier backers.
D1 Capital Partners led the company’s $120m series G round in August 2020, and its other investors include Durable Capital Partners, T Rowe Price, Baillie Gifford and Wellington Management.
Warby Parker’s shares consist of 89.3 million class A shares and 23.4 million class B’s. Tiger Global has 17.5% of its class A’s, T Rowe Price 17.3%, General Catalyst 12.7%, D1 Capital Partners 9.1% and Durable Capital 6.6% while the class B shares are held by its executives.
Image courtesy of Warby Parker.
