(Ecofin Agency) - AfricInvest and Proparco have approved investments in Lapaire, a fast-growing eyewear company, to support its expansion across Africa. AfricInvest committed €2.5 million ($2.72 million), while Proparco contributed €450,000 ($489,946) on October 16.

This financial boost will help Lapaire strengthen its presence in Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Uganda. The company also plans to expand its network to Senegal, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Tanzania.

"The financial and technical support from Proparco and AfricInvest is crucial in helping us grow our optical care network across the continent. This will help us achieve our goal of improving 1 million lives by 2026," said Jérôme Lapaire, CEO of the company.

This joint investment comes nine months after Lapaire raised $3 million in January 2024, led by impact investment fund Investors & Partners (I&P), with the participation of AAIC, Finca Ventures, and Beyond Capital.

Lapaire, founded in 2018 in Kenya, aims to address the underserved market of 500 million people in Africa living with uncorrected vision problems. The company draws on World Health Organization (WHO) data that shows more than 2.2 billion people worldwide suffer from visual impairments or blindness, with at least 1 billion cases preventable or correctable.

Lapaire’s focus is on East and West Africa, where it plans to continue expanding as demand for affordable eyewear grows across the continent.