WARBY PARKER

Founders: David Gilboa, Neil Blumenthal, Andrew Hunt, Jeffrey Raider
Key people: David Gilboa (Co-CEO), Neil Blumenthal (Co-CEO), Andrew Hunt (Dir.), Jeffrey Raider (Co-CEO)
Number of employees: ~5,000

Warby Parker is an American brand of prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses founded in 2010. Warby Parker sells online and has a limited number of showrooms in the United States and Canada.

History

The company was founded in 2010 in Philadelphia by Neil Blumenthal, Andrew Hunt, David Gilboa, and Jeffrey Raider, and is headquartered in New York City. The name “Warby Parker” derives from two characters that appear in a journal by author Jack Kerouac. The company’s official corporate name is JAND Inc. and “Warby Parker” is the company’s trade name.

The company was started in the Venture Initiation Program of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where the founders all studied. The company received $2,500 seed investment through the program and launched in February 2010. Shortly after launching, the company was covered by Vogue.com. In May 2011, Warby Parker raised its first round of funding totaling $2.5 million. In September 2011, the company raised a Series A round of $12.5 million. In Fall 2012, it raised a $37 million Series B round, with an additional $4 million announced in February 2013 with noted investors American Express and Mickey Drexler. In 2011, Warby Parker shipped more than 100,000 pairs of glasses and had 60 employees. By the end of 2012, the company grew to around 100 employees. As of April 2015, the company was valued at $1.2 billion.