Yuma Labs raise funds for launching a circular sunglasses business

 Yuma Labs crowdfunding gets backed for 200% in first 48 hours

Tomorrow’s sunglasses from yesterday’s waste.  This is the thinking behind the circular sunglasses brand Yuma Labs which is now raising capital to fund the business.

The goal of the crowdfunding campaign is to produce a new collection of sunglasses completely made out of recycled plastic waste and easy to send back when their life ends. That way, the sunglasses can be recycled again, thus closing the loop and putting a halt to plastic waste. This phenomenon is called a circular economy.

Next to that, the company launched new branding for more awareness -it was called W.R.Yuma first- and they will move their production from Antwerp to Italy, where the plastic waste will be injection-molded into high-quality sunglasses. In order to achieve that, they wanted to raise 10,000 Euros, but in just 48 hours, their crowdfunding campaign raised 20,628 Euros with backing from 154 people.  But the campaign will continue to run until September 10th, giving the sunglasses brand plenty of time to raise even more.

Founder Sebastiaan De Neubourg explains why they are hungry for more. “Despite the crazy times we live in, we managed to reach 100% of our goal in just a couple of hours, thanks to our backers! Our confidence in them was more than justified. But we want to spread our message even further. We want to spark the conversation and make a switch to a circular economy. That’s why we want to get backed even more,” says De Neubourg.

The crowdfunding campaign consists of one unisex model called Lazlo, available in 4 colors: two transparent frames (the original colors of the recycled bottles) and two colored frames (brown and black).

The quest for a circular economy is clear, according to De Neubourg. “In recent years, we delved into the workings of fashion, circular economy, waste management, and recycling.”

Innovation is also a key aspect of Yuma Labs.  Next to their revolutionary business plan, they also made an Instagram filter of the sunglasses. “This way, you can see whether you like their sunglasses or not. Yuma Labs is the very first eyewear brand that allows contributors to fit the eyeglasses virtually, even before they go into production,” says the founder.

To reach the Crowdfunding link, click HERE.