Lenskart raises $220 million; valuation at $2.5 billion: Report

Lenskart claims to serve over seven million customers every year

Eyewear retailer Lenskart has raised $220 million from investors led by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek, Bloomberg reported. Falcon Edge Capital also invested in the company.

The company plans to use this capital and $95 million raised from KKR in May to make investments in its supply chain, new technologies and expand in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, the report suggested. KKR had invested through a secondary stake acquisition through its Asian private equity fund.

KKR had committed to help the company scale its operations overseas and enhance its digital offerings to augment customers’ virtual and omni-store experiences.

Early investors in Lenskart -- TPG Growth and TR Capital -- which first invested in late 2014, have reportedly divested a portion of their holding in the company. The company now has a valuation of $2.5 billion.

The company was founded by Peyush Bansal in 2010 and sells eyewear online and through its 750 retail outlets across the country.

It claims to serve over seven million customers every year and is backed by Softbank, Kedaara Capital, Premji Invest and Steadview Capital among other key investors.

“India is the blind capital of the world and about half of its 1.3 billion people need glasses,” Bansal told Bloomberg. “We turned profitable at the company level before the pandemic, were in the red during the peak of the first and second waves and have returned to green again,” Bansal added.

Avendus Capital was the exclusive financial advisor to Lenskart & its shareholders on the transaction.