Double Trouble! Floward & Eyewa Close Their Series B Today!

Two of Faith Capital’s outstanding portfolio companies, Floward and Eyewa close their Series B round today. 

Floward:

Floward, Kuwait-headquartered online flowers and gifting platform has raised $27.5 million in a Series B round led by STV, with participation from Impact 46, it announced in a statement today. The round takes total money raised to date by Floward to over $30 million.

Founded in 2017 by serial entrepreneur and investor Abdulaziz B. Al Loughani, Floward sells prime fresh-cut flowers coupled with gifts and other products from local and international brands.  The startup that has been expanding aggressively currently operates in 20 cities across the region and beyond, offering same-day delivery for all the orders. It expanded to its first market outside the Middle East in December 2020 with the launch its platform in London.

Abdulaziz B. Al Loughani told MENAbytes that they will continue to expand in existing markets and launch multiple new cities in the next few months, in addition to starting two new markets. He also said that Floward will also seek organizational excellence going forward and enhance all its internal processes and procedures in order to delight its customers with the best possible gifting experience.

In a statement, he said that the surge in ecommerce penetration due to Covid-19 accelerated the growth of Floward and the startup grew 10x in 2020, “In the first 100 days of 2021, our revenues have surpassed those of the entire year of 2020. We have a clear expansion strategy that follows our own set playbook allowing us to swiftly and seamlessly expand to new markets with the aim to become a major global player in the flowers and gifts industry, with a clear path to positive unit economics and profitability.”

Eyewa:

Eyewa, Dubai-headquartered eyewear startup has raised $21 million in a Series B co-led by Kingsway Capital and Nuwa Capital, it announced in a statement today. The deal was also joined by French Partners, Endeavor Catalyst, Derayah Ventures, Palm Drive, and Hardy Capital, and takes Eyewa’s total capital raised to date to about $30 million. It had previously raised $7.5 million Series A in 2019 and $1.1 million in a seed round in 2018.

Mehdi Oudghiri and Anass Boumediene who previously led Foodpanda in the Middle East started Eyewa in 2017 with the aim to build the largest tech-enabled eyewear company in the region. It started as an online retailer selling sunglasses, contact lenses, and prescription glasses in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, and has now evolved into an omnichannel player that also features in-house brands. Its ecommerce platform now also sells to customers in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait. The startup told MENAbytes that it has doubled its year-over-year revenue in the ongoing quarter.

Eyewa kicked off its retail expansion earlier this year by opening its first brick-and-mortar store in Dahran, Saudi Arabia. It has since opened two more stores in Jeddah and plans to add many more across all the major cities in Saudi and UAE in the next few months.