SoftBank's Sumer Juneja has stepped down from the board of omnichannel eyewear brand IPO-bound Lenskart, making way for two new independent directors — Ashish Kashyap, founder of INDmoney, and Sayali Karanjkar, co-founder of PaySense.
The changes were approved at the company’s annual general meeting on July 26 and signals a broader board-level reshuffle, as the company moves towards a publicly listed entity.
Typically, SoftBank steps down from the board of companies preparing to go public, or shortly after listing, like it did in companies such as Swiggy, Meesho, PB Fintech and Paytm.
The two appointments are part of Lenskart’s efforts to align with public market governance norms and bring in experienced external oversight.
Kashyap is a serial entrepreneur who previously led Goibibo and founded the Ibibo Group. Karanjkar helped build PaySense, a digital lending platform acquired by PayU in 2020. Their inclusion is expected to strengthen Lenskart’s board, as it enters a critical pre-IPO phase.
Karanjkar has also served on the boards of companies such as Mobikwik and CMS Info Systems and invested in firms including Kiwi, Scapia, Xflow, Nimbbl, and Inai.
Lenskart’s board now has a mix of founding members, independent professionals and senior executives.
Alongside Peyush Bansal, Neha Bansal and Amit Chaudhary, who co-founded the company in 2008, the board includes Jayesh Tulsidas Merchant, former chief financial officer (CFO) of Asian Paints, and Bijou Kurien, former chief operating officer (COO) of Titan, Lenskart's biggest and only large rival, and former strategy board member of L'Catterton Asia. Anant Gupta, Partner at Kedaara Capital, is also on the company's board.
From the company’s leadership team, the board includes CFO Abhishek Gupta, and company secretary Preeti Gupta, reflecting a blend of operational and strategic decision-makers.
Lenskart recently introduced a new employee stock ownership plan — ESOP 2025 — as it gears up for its public debut. The scheme comprises 72.8 lakh stock options, representing 0.43 percent of the company’s fully diluted equity capital. Of these, 21.84 lakh options are reserved for senior employees of the general manager rank and above. The plan applies to employees of Lenskart and its subsidiaries and options will vest based on performance and tenure.
At the same AGM, shareholders approved the proposal to raise Rs 2,150 crore (around $250 million) through a fresh issue of shares. The IPO size is expected to be around $1 billion (Rs 8,500 crore), including a secondary sale by existing investors. The company is expected to file its draft red herring prospectus in the coming days.
Founded in 2008, Lenskart operates more than 2,000 retail outlets and is backed by investors such as SoftBank, Temasek, Fidelity, ADIA, Alpha Wave Global, KKR, and TPG. The company was last valued at $6.1 billion, following a mark-up by Fidelity in April 2025.
Also read: IPO-bound Lenskart's founders to together draw Rs 12 crore in annual salaries
The eyewear retailer, which is looking to raise around $1 billion through an IPO, will join a growing list of startups, including Meesho, PhysicsWallah, Pine Labs, Urban Company, Wakefit, Groww, and Shadowfax, to have filed draft documents this year.
If the offering proceeds at the targeted $10 billion valuation, Lenskart’s IPO would be among the largest by an Indian startup alongside the listings of Zomato, Nykaa and Paytm.
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