Ace & Tate eyes future growth with €14m investment
Dutch eyewear brand Ace & Tate has secured a €14m investment to advance its European growth – focusing on retail expansion, new technology and sustainability amid the coronavirus crisis.
The recent financial investment by Rinkelberg Capital Ltd brings the total investment of the seven-year old optical brand to €57.5m, as it sharpens up its focus on its competitors in what is an essential market.
The new funds will allow Ace & Tate to invest in new and existing European opportunities, new technologies to advance the brand’s omnichannel model and further its current initiatives to become a more environmentally responsible company as ‘sustainable’ becomes an ever-more important industry strategy.
Ace & Tate CEO, Mark de Lange, says: “Ace & Tate was founded to make quality, stylish eyewear accessible, by giving our customers the best retail experience possible.
“The recent round of funding will allow us to unify our physical and digital retail channels even further, and to create a frictionless, more personalised shopping experience for our customers."
Ace & Tate has grown 60% year-on-year for the past two years, having delivered its first operationally profitable months in 2019. Going forward, the direct-to-consumer brand expects to more than double its revenue in the next two years.
According to a brand statement: “Shoppers are looking for more agile retail options to shop, try-on, and purchase frames, particularly now, as the COVID-19 lockdown relinquishes its hold on Europe.”
Ace & Tate, which has a store in London's Soho, is reportedly still committed to opening 16 stores across Europe in 2020, bringing the total store count to 70 across 10 countries. The company statement continues: “The brand believes in the future of offline retail as a destination for more in-depth eyecare and eyewear services.”
With high street and off-street rents likely to take a dip as the pandemic still has a hold, Ace & Tate has its eyes on the prize.
De Lange adds: "As we move into 2021, our customers remain our focus. We will continue our mission to lead the eyewear industry to be more accessible and sustainable."
