One quick thing: Udaan acquires ShopKirana to give boost to FMCG play, profitability ahead of IPO   

In today’s newsletter:

• Eye on Lenskart numbers 
• Top deck changes at Flipkart 
• Solicitor General doubles down against X over fake SC handle

P.S.: Introducing the Tech3 Podcast, your daily dose of tech and startup insights. Monday to Friday! Check it out on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

Was this newsletter forwarded to you? You can sign up for Tech3 here

IPO in sight, margins in frame – Lenskart is prepping for a billion-dollar listing with its eyes wide open.

Lenskart zoomed past the Rs 6,400 crore topline mark in the previous fiscal, but the pace is a little less blurry.

• FY25 revenue hit $755 million, up from $645 million in FY24 – a 17% YoY growth, per documents shared with investors a few months ago

That’s a cool-off from the previous year’s 46% leap as the company grows into its scale.

• Profitability is now in focus over breakneck growth, with IPO prep well underway

India still leads, but SEA and the Middle East are coming into sharper focus.

• India clocked $455 million in FY25 sales; the rest ($300 million) came from global ops, especially Southeast Asia
  
  
• Big moves abroad include a $400 million Owndays buyout in June 2022 and a China JV for manufacturing

Lenskart eyes a 25% India market share by FY30, up from ~10% now, documents showed.

Lenskart isn’t just seeing clearer — it’s banking better margins too.

• Lenskart boasts 70% gross margins, with an average selling price (ASP) of $28 and an average cost price (ACP) of just $8
  
  
• FY25 EBITDA margins stood strong at 18–22%, signalling healthy fundamentals.

With $200 million in cash on hand (as of H1FY25), the company has both cushion and firepower to scale.

Dig deeper

Flipkart’s leadership carousel just spun again – and this time, it’s a mobile handover with travel-sized twists.

From delivering in minutes to dialling up mobiles, Kanchan Mishra takes on double duty.

• Mishra, head of Flipkart Minutes, will now also lead its crucial Mobiles vertical, we were told

Meanwhile, Manjari Singhal, Cleartrip’s chief business and growth officer, will take charge of Travel.

• With both Mobiles and Minutes under her belt, Mishra becomes one of Flipkart’s most pivotal execs

After 13 years, a Flipkart veteran checks out.

• Smrithi Ravichandran, VP of Mobiles and Travel, exits after a long innings

She’s the latest in a string of senior leaders to part ways with the company.

• Ravichandran exits after steering some of Flipkart’s most strategic categories

Flipkart’s leadership deck is getting a steady spring clean.

• Big names like Ankit Jain (Grocery), Prajakta Kanaglekar (HR), and Anurag Singhvi (Analytics) have recently quit, we reported earlier
  
  
• Ganesh Ramaswamy, Flipkart VP and Cleartrip CPTO, is also moving on.

Rivals like Swiggy, Zepto, and Blinkit are scooping up talent as they scale quick commerce.

Dig deeper

A fake ‘Supreme Court of Karnataka’ account just made an authentic point in court.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on July 18 revealed a verified fake X (formerly Twitter) account named ‘Supreme Court of Karnataka’ to demonstrate the dangers of misinformation and the need for fast takedown of such content.

• The account was taken down shortly after, prompting Mehta to joke that X treated the court hearing as an “oral takedown notice”

The moment came during a key hearing in X vs Union of India, where the company is challenging the government’s Sahyog Portal, a centralised system for sending takedown orders to digital platforms. 

• X argues the portal lacks legal backing and enables extra-legal censorship

Mehta defended the portal as an administrative tool, not requiring statutory approval. 

“It replaces the earlier system where scattered police units sent takedown letters with no standardisation,” Mehta said.

While X refuses to join the portal, calling it a "censorship portal," others are lining up. 

The government told the court that 38 platforms have onboarded so far, including Google, YouTube, Telegram, Apple, Amazon, and LinkedIn.

• Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) is in the final stages of API integration, and the rollout is expected in the coming days

• Perplexity AI, which competes with Google through its AI-powered search engine, has raised $100 million in a funding round that values the startup at $18 billion.
  
  
• Meta Platforms has hired AI researchers Mark Lee and Tom Gunter from Apple Inc., shortly after poaching their former boss for its Superintelligence Labs team.

First, dive into Special Ops Season 2, where RAW Officer Himmat Singh (Kay Kay Menon) returns to battle a new kind of enemy: 

• A cyber threat that is silently spreading through India’s UPI infrastructure. Watch it on Jio Hotstar

On the lighter side, Vir Das’s Fool Volume offers an escape with its sharp humour and introspective moments. 

• Watch as Das opens up about his journey through silence and self-doubt. Check it out on Netflix

Note: By subscribing to Tech3, you have already made the right choice. Top it up with a premium offering, the Moneycontrol Pro Panorama, a newsletter that gives you a sharp take on macros, markets, business and finance. Sign up for Pro from this link to get this newsletter in your inbox and also a host of content enjoyed by over a million subscribers.