SuperVista AG, the parent company of Brillen.de, a leading multi-channel provider of prescription eyewear in Germany, announced today that it secured an investment of €45 million by Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV). Brillen.de intends to use the funding to expand its executive team and enter new markets beyond Germany, Austria, Spain (Gafas.es) and the UK (Specsfactory.co.uk), where it currently operates.
SuperVista AG is headquartered in Wildau, near Berlin, and sells high-quality prescription eyewear online to consumers at very attractive prices. The company also leverages a large distribution network of more than 700 affiliated traditional opticians. TCV’s investment in Brillen.de (SuperVista) is the first institutional backing for the family-owned company and is among the largest venture capital rounds in Germany in 2016.
Founded in 2012, Brillen.de has grown quickly by enabling independent opticians to capture market share and expand their customer base through efficient marketing, high-quality products, competitive pricing and excellent customer service. According to recent studies by Credit Suisse, the size of the European eyewear market is expected to reach €30 billion by 2017.
Brillen.de was founded by Matthias Kamppeter, his wife Christine Kamppeter, and Daniel Thung. Before founding the company, CEO Kamppeter and his wife managed approximately 20 optician stores in Germany. Kamppeter has extensive sector knowledge and comes from a family of ophthalmologists that holds a number of industry patents. Co-Founder Thung, who is also a member of the company’s supervisory board, brings both capital markets and IPO experience in the tech sector.
“From the moment we met with TCV we knew they were the right investors to help us take Brillen.de to the next level and expand our service globally,” said CEO Kamppeter. He continued: “It’s clear an investment from TCV goes far beyond an influx of capital. They are committed to helping us strengthen our financial structure, improve our sales and marketing processes and build out our technology team.”
