Stoggles

Stoggles thinks protective eyewear can be fashionable, too

Wearing sunglasses is a way to keep the sun from our eyes. However, they have always been a part of fashion. Stoggles co-founders Max Greenberg and Rahul Khatri think that the brand’s style could also be applied to protective sunglasses.

They were both working at another eyewear fashion company when the pandemic struck. With the awareness of how saturated the market was, they saw a chance to develop protective eyewear that was similar to the sexy and stylish space and initially targeted the health sector. Stoggles offer ANSI-Z87-certified protection , fashion, and comfort. They offer an option for prescription lenses and feature blue-light-blocking technology. Stoggles are distinguished by their anti-fog coating.

“This has been a way more rewarding business because our biggest customer is healthcare professionals,” Greenberg explained to TechCrunch. As a result, they went from wearing bulky, uncomfortable, ugly protective glasses to something they wanted to wear, post on Instagram, share with their friends and talk about how it made a bigger impact on their daily lives, both functionally and in general happiness and well-being. “

The company launched in Los Angeles with Stoggles in August of 2020 through the launch of a crowdfunding campaign. The company later launched an online website beginning in the month of February. After that, Greenberg said the company “saw incredible growth last year,” with an average of 30% revenue growth month-to-month.

The market for protective eyewear worldwide is expected to grow to $3.1 billion by 2026. Other companies are trying to bring glasses into the mainstream, but they are more focused on the general public, which includes Pair Eyewear, Cheeterz Club, and the company that got it started, Warby Parker. Warby Parker, which made its public debut on the direct market in September,

Despite being already profitable, their eyewear line is gaining popularity with the health care industry The Stoggles founders chose to pursue their first venture capital round after they had successfully bootstrapped the company. Greenberg explained that, due to the company’s having established a product-market fit, rather than opting for the traditional Series A and Series B, they chose an expansion round, which raised $40 million from the Chernin Group.

One of the goals of Stoggles is to expand into content and media that will help raise awareness of Stoggles. According to him, the founders believed that the Chernin Group would be an ideal partner in this regard because of their experience with content and media firms and media companies.

Luke Beatty, partner at TCG In an email, not only did Stoggles discover and demonstrate that there was a space in the market for protective eyewear, they also filled the gap “A feat we found rather impressive for a company of their age,” said the TCG partner. said, “Max and Rahul have expertly built an exceptional business model, and we’re thrilled to be a partner in this next stage of growth.”

The company will make use of the money to fund product development in order to expand its range of goggles and to continue offering new products for the healthcare market. It’s also set to expand beyond the healthcare market to other areas, such as laboratories, construction, as well as home improvement and DIY, Greenberg said. Additionally, Stoggles will be building its executive team and is looking to hire a marketing director.

The company employs 15 people and is looking to increase that number by the end of this year.

“We really want to build a strong foundation of great, really passionate people that see the mission that we’re after and want to help us achieve it and be a part of it,” Greenberg said. “We wouldn’t be where we are today without our healthcare customers, so we want to build an even better product for them, continue to improve, expand the product line, get the word out and make the experience better.”


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