Lapaire, an African eyecare startup, has secured $3 million in new funding round to facilitate the expansion of its affordable vision services and eyeglasses sales across the continent.

The Ivorian startup aims to open 300 additional eye care centers in coming years after the successful funding round.

Investisseurs & Partenaires, a development impact fund, led the investment. Other participating investors include AAIC, FINCA Ventures and Beyond Capital.

Lapaire currently operates in 6 African countries with 58 locations. According to the company, it has provided over 300,000 free eye tests and sold glasses to 180,000 customers, since 2018.

“We’ve built a highly scalable model and are now positioned to accelerate growth,” said CEO Jerome Lapaire.

Lapaire has set a goal of positively impacting 1 million lives by 2026.

The company offers stylish, quality prescription eyewear and lenses at reasonable prices based on a one-stop-shop customer experience. This makes vision correction more accessible.

Lapaire’s expansion effort focuses initially on deepening its presence across existing markets like Ivory Coast, Togo, Mali and Uganda. It then plans to venture into additional African countries.

Addressing visual impairments remains a pressing health need on the continent. An estimated 35% of Africans require corrected vision, mostly with prescription glasses.

Lapaire aims to address this by making eye care and corrective eyewear products readily available in underserved communities through its retail centers.

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The company’s over 350 employees will support the rapid brick-and-mortar and digital commerce growth made possible by the new capital injection.

Industry analysts say vision care represents a promising healthcare segment in Africa’s surging digital health sector. The analyst added that wider insurance coverage and younger demographics are driving demand.

With the new funding, Lapaire seeks to cement itself as the leading vision care provider making eye health and accessibility a priority across Africa.