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"Uber trendy glasses brand\u00A0Warby Parker has some very exciting news: the ecommerce-driven startup has revealed the close of a $41.5 million\u00A0series B round, counting the likes of\u00A0\u00A0J. Crew CEO Millard S. Drexler and\u00A0American Express as investors.\r\n\r\nIf this sounds familiar, it's because Warby had already announced a\u00A0$37m Series B\u00A0in September, led by General Catalyst Partners. According to the NY Times, Warby Parker executives &amp;quot;left some room and time for select investors&amp;quot; to join the round.\r\n\r\nNow officially closed as of January,\u00A0Warby Parker's Series B has grown by $4.5M, but there's more news worth examining: J. Crew's Drexler is now &amp;quot;formally involved&amp;quot; in the company, says Warby Parker co-CEO Neil Blumenthal. Blumenthal details that\u00A0Drexler's involvement came from his interest in Warby's retail initiatives.\r\n\r\nInterestingly, Warby Parker says it currently isn't planing to invest in retail partnerships. Instead, Blumenthal tells the NY Times &amp;quot;the emphasis remains on selling directly to consumers.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nBut as Warby Parker becomes less of an ecommerce company and more of a lifestyle brand, it's not difficult to see the company's intentions to invest heavily in retail, going solo with Drexler as a key advisor.\r\n\r\nRumors of a Warby Parker partnership with Google for Google Glass makes this news all the more curious."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/02/25/warby-parker-raises-41-5m-from-j-crew-ceo-american-express-and-more-with-its-heart-set-on-retail/>