Four friends in Spain started with $300 and a simple pitch: trendy sunglasses sold online at a fraction of what Ray-Ban charged. They launched Hawkers in 2013, targeting young consumers through social media before Instagram ads became expensive and saturated. The approach worked. Within three years, the scrappy startup was selling enough sunglasses to attract serious money.
Alejandro Betancourt López led a €50 million Series A funding round in October 2016—one of the largest startup financings in Spanish history at that time. One month later, the board appointed him president. He inherited a company with momentum and a proven concept. What he built next turned a promising startup into a retail powerhouse.
Hawkers now operates in more than 20 countries with over 60 physical stores and annual sales exceeding €100 million. The transformation offers lessons for investors evaluating crowded markets and entrepreneurs trying to scale beyond early traction.
Finding Value Where Others Saw Saturation
The eyewear industry looked anything but promising in 2016. Ray-Ban and Gucci owned the luxury segment. Mass retailers controlled the budget tier. Warby Parker had already proven the direct-to-consumer model could disrupt glasses. Dozens of copycats were flooding the market.
Alejandro Betancourt López saw an opportunity where others saw oversupply. Hawkers occupied a specific niche—fashionable sunglasses at accessible prices—and had demonstrated real traction. The founders understood their customers and could execute with limited resources. That combination justified the risk.
“There are 10,000 good ideas out there,” Betancourt López said. “But not all of them come to be a successful venture because there are many factors that make them successful. The most critical one is the people.”
The founding team had proven themselves. The company needed capital and operational expertise to maintain momentum, not a complete rebuild. For an investor with experience scaling international businesses, the pieces were already in place.
Timing mattered too. Hawkers had established brand recognition in Spain and begun expanding across Europe. The company was raising money at the right moment—after proving the concept but before hitting growth ceilings that plague many direct-to-consumer brands.
Building Infrastructure for Scale
Most startups that raise big funding rounds immediately pour money into customer acquisition. Alejandro Betancourt López did something different. His first priority was bringing manufacturing in-house—a decision that seemed counterintuitive when competitors were outsourcing everything.
The company established facilities in Spain, Italy, and China. Each location served a purpose. European production offered quality control and fast turnaround for new designs. Chinese manufacturing delivered cost advantages for high-volume orders. Geographic distribution reduced shipping times while providing flexibility to respond to regional demand patterns.
“Once I start something, I just don’t stop,” Betancourt López explained. “I try to see every single option that could turn negative and try to mitigate it beforehand. Even if the idea is great and you have the right people, it’ll always surprise you with things that are not expected.”
That philosophy shaped every operational decision. Supply chains were optimized to move inventory efficiently from factories to customers. Technology investments improved website performance and payment processing. Customer service systems are scaled to handle inquiries across multiple languages and time zones.
The infrastructure investment paid off. Many startups stumble during rapid growth because their systems can’t handle increased volume. Hawkers built the operational foundation before pushing hard on customer acquisition, preventing bottlenecks that would have slowed expansion.
Manufacturing control also protected margins. Direct-to-consumer brands promise to eliminate middlemen and pass savings to customers. That math only works if the brand captures the margin that would otherwise flow to manufacturers and distributors. Owning production turned what competitors treated as an expense into a competitive advantage.
Scaling What Already Worked
Hawkers’ early success came from social media marketing and influencer partnerships. The founders had figured out how to generate buzz without expensive advertising budgets. Many companies would have diversified their marketing mix after raising capital. Alejandro Betancourt López doubled down on what was already producing results.
The “free sunnies” campaign expanded dramatically. College students with modest social media followings received free products in exchange for authentic content. The strategy generated millions in earned media value before influencer marketing became saturated and expensive.
Geographic localization set Hawkers apart from competitors using cookie-cutter approaches. Soccer stars promoted the brand in Mexico, where football drives consumer culture. American college students became campus ambassadors. European fashion influencers positioned Hawkers as an accessible luxury alternative.
“That approach totally disrupted the market in the way we penetrated the market,” Betancourt López noted. “And I think that innovation has built a huge brand that is today Hawkers.”
The localized strategy worked because it matched product positioning to cultural context. Generic advertising campaigns rarely resonate deeply. Hawkers’ approach felt authentic because it emerged from each market’s actual culture rather than imposing a unified brand voice globally.
Marketing investments paid off in customer acquisition costs well below industry averages. While competitors struggled with expensive Facebook and Instagram ads, Hawkers built communities of genuine advocates. Those customers drove word-of-mouth referrals that compounded the initial investment.
Breaking the Digital-Only Playbook
By 2018, Alejandro Betancourt López made another move that contradicted conventional startup wisdom: opening physical stores for a digital-native brand. The prevailing advice suggested that online-only companies should avoid expensive real estate commitments. Customer acquisition costs on social platforms were rising, though, and physical locations offered advantages beyond simple transactions.
Hawkers opened more than 60 stores across multiple countries. The locations functioned as brand showcases, data collection points, and customer service hubs. Shoppers could try frames, receive personalized recommendations, and leave with products immediately—experiences impossible through pure e-commerce.
Store data-informed online operations in unexpected ways. Staff learned which questions customers asked most frequently, shaping website content and product descriptions. Try-on patterns revealed style preferences by region, optimizing inventory allocation. Geographic foot traffic guided decisions about additional locations.
The economics supported expansion. Customers who shopped both online and in stores demonstrated higher lifetime value than single-channel buyers. Return rates dropped when people could examine products before purchasing. Physical locations in high-traffic areas generated brand awareness without additional advertising spend.
Hawkers’ omnichannel approach positioned the company ahead of broader industry shifts. Deloitte’s 2025 Retail Outlook identifies “accelerating digital transformation/omnichannel capabilities” as a top priority for retail executives. What seemed contrarian in 2018 became standard practice by 2025.
The physical expansion revealed a crucial aspect of Hawkers’ sustainability. The company had built real infrastructure, owned its supply chain, and created genuine brand value beyond viral social media campaigns. That foundation distinguished Hawkers from competitors who relied solely on paid digital acquisition.
Maintaining Value During Downturns
Spain faced economic challenges in the late 2010s. Consumer spending tightened. Competitors increased promotional activity, pressuring Hawkers to discount aggressively to maintain market share.
Alejandro Betancourt López focused on value rather than price wars. The company introduced new product lines, improved quality, and enhanced customer service=. Sustainability initiatives—including sunglasses made from recovered ocean plastic—aligned with consumer values while differentiating Hawkers from purely price-driven competitors.
“We always have been conscious about sustainability, and we know that the market is shifting toward that direction,” Betancourt López said. “Everyone is getting more conscious and wanting to understand how the product they buy impacts their life, but also the world and environment as well.”
Strategic patience paid off. Brands that slashed prices to maintain short-term sales damaged their long-term positioning. Hawkers emerged from economic challenges with strengthened brand equity and customers who valued more than just low prices.
The journey from $300 startup to a global brand demonstrates what happens when capable founders meet strategic capital and operational expertise. Alejandro Betancourt López provided more than money—he built infrastructure, scaled proven strategies, and made contrarian decisions that positioned Hawkers for sustained growth across changing market conditions.
