Tinder-backed contact lens disruptor closes £3.7m Series A

Direct-to-consumer contact lens brand Waldo has netted £3.7m in Series A funding.

The seven-figure boost came from UK-based transatlantic investors PROfounders Capital and YYX Ventures, US firm Tectonic Capital and Sean Rad and Justin Mateen, co-founders of popular dating app Tinder.

Waldo, which launched in the UK 10 months ago, will use the cash to drive its ongoing expansion across Europe and the US.

The company was founded by young entrepreneur and long time lens-wearer Ashleigh Hinde, who wants to transform the process of ordering and subscribing to a lens scheme.

Waldo ships its daily lenses within 48 hours and replenishes a customer’s supply as needed. Users have the option of accelerating, pausing or canceling their subscription at any time.

Since its launch in August 2017, the company has attracted 50,000 customers across 27 European countries.

Founder Ashleigh said: “At the moment, the large pharmaceutical companies are dominating the industry, but they are too far from their customers.

“Despite contact lenses being such an intimate product and daily staple in the lives of millions of customers, the big brands in this space are not doing anything exciting.”

She continued: “As we are seeing across the CPG industry, the brands that win are the brands that are in conversation with their customers, and able to develop products and services that solve their problems.

“Waldo’s mission is to leverage that and deliver a more customer-centric contact lens experience.”

PROfounders Capital general partner Sean Seton-Rogers commented: “We firmly believe that Waldo has the ability to become a globally leading, digitally-native brand in the contact lens space.”

Tinder co-founders Sean Rad and Justin Mateen said in a joint statement: “Waldo disrupts a market dominated by big, established players with its customer-centric approach to selling and strong brand.

“We have been impressed with how quickly they have executed.”

The Series A follows early funding of £1.3m for Waldo last year, secured from YYX Capital and investor Nigel Wray, among others.