Surprise! Making cheap, hipster glasses isn't all that lucrative

Hipsters.
(Image credit: Facebook.com/WarbyParker)

At least not yet, according to popular online eyeglass retailer Warby Parker. While the five-year-old private company, which makes $100 frames with bookish East Egg names like Percey, Bensen, and Fillmore, says it's not yet profitable, it did recently raise a fresh round of capital, led by T. Rowe Price, of $100 million.

Though Warby Parker declined to comment on its valuation, The Wall Street Journal reports that the company's value may now top $1 billion. Breaking the 1-billion dollar mark before going public isn't easy to do for online retail startups — only a handful have successfully.

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Lauren Hansen produces The Week’s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.