MyOptique Group raises £8m

The round was led by existing investors Acton Capital Partners, Highland Capital Partners and Index Ventures. New backers Cipio Partners and GP Bullhound Sidecar - the investment arm of investment bank GP Bullhound - also entered the firm's shareholding via a capital increase.

MyOptique will pursue an organic and acquisitive growth strategy.

Previous funding
Launched in 2005 as Glasses Direct, MyOptique raised its first institutional funding round in 2007 when Index Ventures and Highland Capital Partners committed £3.8m to the firm. Two years later, the company raised £10m from its existing backers and Acton Capital Partners.

Company
Launched in 2005, the business was later renamed Prescription Eyewear before a final rebranding earlier this year to become The MyOptique Group. The company launched its online optical retail site MyOptique.com in 2011. The group also includes a prescription sunglasses business, Glasses Direct, which acquired Sunglasses Shop in 2011. Additional bolt-ons include the acquisition of LensOn AB to develop the group's product offering.

The group, in its second year of profitability, is expected to achieve revenues of £35m this year. It spans eight European markets and has served more than 800,000 customers.

People
The company has appointed Maurice Helfgott, founder and chairman of investment and advisory firm Amery Capital and former main board executive director at Marks & Spencer, as its new chairman. The firm's incumbent chairman, Jamie Murray Wells, has stepped down and sold his shares to Cipio Partners.

Advisers
Company - GP Bullhound (Corporate finance).

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• Topics
• UK / Ireland
• Consumer
• Expansion
• United Kingdom
• Index Ventures