Saturday Feb 15, 2025

Alejandro Betancourt Drives Hawkers Sunglasses to New Heights

Selling sunglasses is among the most competitive sectors in
retail. Hundreds of brands from uncounted manufacturers duke it out every day
for a share of the market. 

That’s what makes the story of Hawkers so remarkable. The
sunglasses brand kicked off in 2013 — and not even as a discrete company.
Rather, selling sunglasses  was intended to raise some extra cash to support an
entirely different kind of venture – sort of a Spanish-language version of
Craigslist. 

But the classified website was put on the back burner
because the sunglasses started selling so well! Beginning with just one model,
the sellers ramped up their line and began moving out shades at a brisk rate. 

The real turning point for Hawkers, however, arrived when
internationally successful entrepreneur Alejandro Betancourt  took notice and
decided to invest. His long experience across an array of ventures suggested to
him that Hawkers Sunglasses was a winner. He was right. Since its 2013 launch,
Hawkers quickly swelled to a $78 million AR firm by 2016. 

Alejandro Betancourt, a native of Caracas, Venezuela, who
now lives in London, is the founder of O’Hara Administration, an investment
firm
. He also leads a rideshare firm called Auro and serves as the president of
Hawkers Sunglasses.  

Alejandro Betancourt began his career in the petroleum
sector after graduating from Suffolk University in Boston. He has served as
director of Pacific Exploration & Production Corp. The latter is a Canadian
publicly traded firm and a leading producer of natural gas and crude oil.  

Today his major focus is sunglasses, however. Alejandro
Betancourt said one of the keys to Hawkers’ success was “creating a strong
consumer value proposition.” That included making a high-quality product that
was lightweight, durable and had extra features like glare reduction, UV
protection and polarized lenses. 

The business of providing shade spells a bright future for
Hawkers.  

yhlr339wutksgt5

Back to Top