Conservation | March 6, 2019

Chile’s eco-eyeglasses maker Karün secures €2.5 million

Jessica Pothering
ImpactAlpha Editor

Jessica Pothering

ImpactAlpha, March 5 – Karün, a Chilean eyeglasses company that makes frames from recycled materials, has raised €2.5 million ($2.8 million) in an early funding round. Swedish investment fund Blue AB and Walton Family-backed Luna backed the round.

The Santiago-based company launched in 2013, designing eye wear from its offices in Chile and manufacturing its designs out of fishing nets, reclaimed wood and other materials recovered by informal Chilean workers and micro-entrepreneurs. The company sells its glasses online and via retailers in Europe and the U.S.

Karün’s business sits at the intersection of several recycling and waste management trends other companies are tackling: merging fashion and ocean plastic, like Stella McCartney’s fashion line; and supporting a waste-conscious fashion sector, like Repassa in Brazil, For Days in the U.S. and Vinted in Lithuania. Others are supporting informal workers and micro-businesses, like waste management company Nepra is doing in India.