Eyewear start-up Warby Parker valued at 6.8 billion dollars on stock exchange debut

Warby Parker, the direct-to-consumer eyewear company, was valued at 6.8 billion dollars on the first day of public trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday. Despite having not turned a profit, its staggering valuation doubled from a year ago when it was privately funded.

The shares closed at 54.49 dollars as the company remains on track to reach 535 million dollars in revenue this year. Investors remain unfazed by growth-focused yet unprofitable digital and direct-to-consumer brands.

Warby Parker’s co-founders and co-chief executives Neil Blumenthal and David Gilboa said going public was not a means to raise further funds but to broaden its public profile and show companies can be successful while having a positive impact.

“Our motivation is to have a lot of direct positive impact, but also to inspire other businesses and entrepreneurs to think along the same lines,” Mr. Gilboa was quoted as saying by the Wall Street Journal. “Being public and being transparent about our business to a broader market is an opportunity to do that.”

The decade old company primarily sells its products via digital channels, which made up 60 percent of sales last year. It later expanded into physical retail and currently operates 145 stores.