Karün

What Karün does

Karün is a Chilean sustainable eyewear company founded in 2012 in Patagonia that designs, produces, and sells sunglasses and optical frames manufactured from traceable recycled materials — including bottle caps from plastic bottles, recycled nylon from fishing nets, and recycled polycarbonate from old ropes — sourced from collection sites across Patagonia, China, Thailand, Taiwan, and Chile. Its product surface is anchored by the core Karün Eyewear line and extended through the Join the Planet collection, which has featured a limited-edition collaboration with Leo Messi accompanied by a digital certificate of authenticity, all governed by the company's proprietary Karün Regeneration Model™ framework. A customer-facing Material Traceability System (trace.karunworld.com) allows buyers to verify the origin and journey of inputs, functioning as the brand's primary transparency mechanism and a key marketing asset.

The business operates as a direct-to-consumer brand selling through four regional e-commerce storefronts — usa.karunworld.com (USA), karuneyewear.com (Europe), anteojoskarun.cl (Chile), and ar.karuneyewear.com (Argentina) — supplemented by physical retail accessed via a store locator on karunworld.com, and reports a presence in over 20 countries. Go-to-market is product-led and content-driven, centered on regenerative-economy storytelling and the Patagonia-originated narrative, with the Jointheplanet community platform (jointheplanet.earth) serving as the top-of-funnel engagement channel.

Karün is privately held and headquartered in Patagonia, Chile, with an operations office in Santiago. The company has raised approximately $11.8M across disclosed rounds between 2016 and 2024, culminating in an October 2024 $5M emergency capital increase from WildSur and Petra (investment groups linked to the Luksic families) that followed a near-bankruptcy episode. The October 2024 financing was coupled with the departure of founder and CEO Thomas Kimber, indicating a transition of management and likely shareholder control toward the new investor consortium. Headcount sits in the 11–50 range and the customer base is a horizontal, single-persona segment of environmentally conscious consumers purchasing one-off eyewear SKUs through DTC channels.

Name

Karün

Website

https://karunworld.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Karün is a Chilean sustainable eyewear company that designs and sells sunglasses and optical frames made from traceable recycled materials (bottle caps, fishing nets, old ropes) to environmentally conscious consumers via DTC e-commerce storefronts across the USA, Europe, Chile, and Argentina.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sustainable Eyewear

NAICS

Optical Goods Retailers (45613)

SIC

Retail-Apparel & Accessory Stores (5600)

akta.pro primary industry

Sunglasses (Non-Prescription) (CRAAAKAB)

Keywords

• Sustainable eyewear
• Recycled eyewear frames
• Regenerative economy
• Traceable materials
• Eco-friendly sunglasses

Headquarters

HQ city

Curaco De Velez

HQ country

Chile

HQ region

Latin America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Sustainable Eyewear Sales: Direct-to-consumer sales of sustainable eyewear products made from recycled and traceable materials. Revenue generated through e-commerce storefronts across multiple regional markets (USA, Europe, LatAm).

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Karün designs, manufactures, and sells sunglasses and optical frames made from recycled materials including bottle caps from plastic bottles, recycled nylon from fishing nets, and recycled polycarbonate from old ropes. The company operates a direct-to-consumer model through regional e-commerce storefronts and physical retail presence across more than 20 countries, with each pair traceable to its material origin through a dedicated traceability system.

Product overview

Karün is a sustainable eyewear company offering a unified product portfolio centered on its core Karün Eyewear line of sunglasses and optical frames made from traceable recycled materials. The product range includes regional variants for Latam, North America, and Europe markets, as well as the specialized Join the Planet collection featuring limited-edition pieces like the Leo Messi collaboration. The entire portfolio is underpinned by the company's proprietary Karün Regeneration Model™, a regenerative business framework that defines the brand's approach to sustainability and differentiates its eyewear offerings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Karün Eyewear The company's flagship sustainable eyewear product line, featuring sunglasses and optical frames made from traceable recycled materials including bottle caps from plastic bottles, recycled nylon from fishing nets, and recycled polycarbonate from old ropes. Offered across regional storefronts for USA, Europe, Chile, and Argentina markets.
• Join the Planet Collection

Quantifiable outcome

• Products made from bottle caps from plastic bottles, recycled nylon from fishing nets, and recycled polycarbonate from old ropes
• +1 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Fundacion RosariominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization featured on the Karün Jointheplanet platform. Listed among the company's partners.
• Ocean MaterialminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partner for ocean-related sustainable materials, featured on the Jointheplanet platform.
• Ocean CycleminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization focused on ocean sustainability and circular economy, featured on the Jointheplanet platform.
• Green TicketminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSustainability-focused partner featured on the Karün Jointheplanet platform.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Persol: Persol is a heritage Italian sunglasses and optical frames brand owned by Luxottica. It competes for the premium eyewear consumer and indirectly pressures Karün at the higher-priced end of the market.
• Maui Jim: Maui Jim is a major premium polarized-sunglasses brand with global retail distribution. As a large incumbent in the sunglasses category, it competes for the same consumer wallet share though without Karün's recycled-material positioning.
• Stella McCartney Eyewear: Stella McCartney Eyewear is a luxury sustainable fashion house whose eyewear line uses eco-friendly materials. It is a broader incumbent operating across apparel, but its eyewear category competes for the same sustainability-minded premium consumer as Karün.

Others

• Allbirds: Allbirds is a public sustainable consumer brand built on natural and recycled materials with strong storytelling. It is a thematic comparable on sustainable-DTC brand-building rather than a direct eyewear competitor.
• Pela Case: Pela Case is a DTC accessories brand built around compostable and recycled materials. It is not an eyewear competitor but shares Karün's sustainable-materials DTC playbook and target demographic.

Direct peers

• Sea2see: Sea2see produces eyewear from recycled marine plastic, including fishing nets. It is a near-direct competitor to Karün, sharing the same recycled-ocean-waste material story and sustainability-led positioning.
• Proof Eyewear: Proof Eyewear is a sustainable eyewear brand using recycled materials such as reclaimed wood and cotton-based acetate. It targets the same eco-conscious consumer as Karün and sells DTC plus wholesale optical channels.
• Warby Parker: Warby Parker is the category-defining DTC eyewear retailer selling prescription frames and sunglasses online. It is the most direct comparable to Karün's DTC model, though Karün is significantly smaller and differentiated on sustainability rather than price.
• ECO Eyewear: ECO Eyewear makes frames from recycled and bio-based materials, including waste coffee grounds and ocean plastics. It competes directly with Karün in the sustainable-eyewear niche across European and global DTC channels.

Emerging players

• Brunner Eyewear: Brunner Eyewear offers eyewear made from recycled PET bottles. It is a smaller, niche sustainable-eyewear label with overlapping material innovation but lower scale and brand recognition than Karün.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/karunworld

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Karün