Lenskart
- Prescription eyewear
- Opticians
- Peyush Bansal
- Amit Chaudhary
- Sumeet Kapahi
- India
- Southeast Asia
- East Asia[1]
- Middle East[2]
- United States
![Increase](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Increase2.svg/11px-Increase2.svg.png)
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- Owndays
- Neso Brands[4]
Lenskart is an Indian multinational optical prescription eyewear retail chain, based in Gurugram.[5] As of March 2023,[update][2] Its manufacturing facility in New Delhi manufactures 3 lakh glasses a month.[6][7][8] Lenskart is building an automated factory in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan, with an annual production capacity of 5 crore glasses.[1]
History
Peyush Bansal, a former Microsoft employee, founded Lenskart.com in 2010 along with Amit Chaudhary and Sumeet Kapahi.[9] In 2011, early investor IDG Ventures India directed the company to also sell wristwatches, bags and jewellery online to replicate Titan Company's business.[10][11] In 2011, the company launched Watchkart.com and Bagskart.com, and the following year, it started Jewelskart.com.[12] By the end of 2014, only Lenskart.com remained operative as the company shut down its other three websites to focus on the eyewear segment.[13]
Lenskart launched the eyewear brand John Jacobs in 2017.[14][15] In October 2017, Lenskart signed up its first brand ambassador Katrina Kaif.[16][17] In 2018, the company became profitable, EBITDA positive.[6] In March 2019, the company hired Bhuvan Bam as its first male brand ambassador.[18]
In June 2022, Lenskart announced the acquisition of a majority stake in the Japanese eyewear brand Owndays in a cash-and-stock deal which valued Owndays at around US$400 million.[19]
Funding
In 2011, IDG Ventures India invested $4 million in the company. In January 2015, the company raised ₹135 crore from TPG Growth, TR Capital and IDG Ventures India.[20] In May 2016, International Finance Corporation, Adveq Management, TPG Growth and IDG Ventures India invested a total of $60 million in Lenskart. The company also saw investments from Ratan Tata and Kris Gopalakrishnan.[21] In September 2016, Wipro's Chairman Azim Premji invested around ₹200 crore in Lenskart through his family office PremjiInvest.[22]
Lenskart was valued at over $1 billion in December 2019 after SoftBank Vision Fund invested $275 million.[23][7] In May 2021, KKR invested $95 million,[24] and in July 2021, Temasek and Falcon Edge Capital (Alpha Wave Global) led a $220 million investment round at a valuation of $2.5 billion.[25] In July 2022, Lenskart was valued at $4.5 billion following a $200 million funding round led by Alpha Wave Global.[26]
In March 2023, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority invested $500 million in Lenskart at a valuation of $4.5 billion.[2] In June 2023, the company raised $100 million from ChrysCapital.[27]
In June 2024, Lenskart secured $200 Million from Temasek and Fidelity.[28]
References
- ^ a b "Lenskart may shift SE Asia manufacturing to India plant". mint. 29 August 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
- ^ a b c Singh, Manish (15 March 2023). "ADIA invests $500 million in Lenskart". TechCrunch. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
- ^ a b c "Lenskart revenue jumps to Rs 3,788 crore in FY23; trims losses to Rs 102 crore". The Economic Times. 26 April 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
- ^ "Lenskart-backed Neso Brands raises $100 million, appoints Bjorn Bergstrom CEO". Financial Express. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
- ^ "Lenskart plans to hire over 2,000 employees in India by next year". mint. 11 August 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
- ^ a b Bali, Shinmin (4 November 2018). "Expansion Plan: Lenskart eyes 50% market share". The Financial Express. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
- ^ a b "Lenskart raises another $25 million in series I round; announces opening of 1,000th store in the country". Economic Times. 4 May 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
- ^ Sikdar, Shubhomoy (4 March 2019). "Lenskart sees more scope of growth in non-metros: CEO Peyush Bansal". Business Standard India. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
- ^ Poduwal, Sunanda (6 November 2011). "Peyush Bansal, founder of Lenskart in India, selling eyewear talks about his business journey". The Economic Times. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
- ^ "Valyoo Technologies raises $4M from IDG Ventures India". Reuters. 1 November 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
- ^ "Adjust focus: How Peyush Bansal built Lenskart into a profitable unicorn". Forbes India. 19 September 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
- ^ "After Lenskart, Watchkart & Bagskart, Valyoo Technologies' Jewelskart.com Goes Live". TechCircle. 16 February 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
- ^ "Lenskart's Peyush Bansal on new funding, why he shut down three other e-com sites & more". VCCircle. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
- ^ PTI (13 January 2019). "John Jacobs to clock ₹500 cr revenue by March 2021". The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
- ^ PTI (4 February 2018). "Lenskart invests $4 million to expand John Jacobs brand stores". Livemint. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
- ^ "Lenskart ropes in Katrina Kaif as brand ambassador". Moneycontrol. 9 October 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
- ^ "Katrina Kaif is Lenskart's first-ever ambassador". The Economic Times. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
- ^ "Lenskart announces Bhuvan Bam as its new brand ambassador". Economic Times Brand Equity. 29 March 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
- ^ Singh, Manish (30 June 2022). "Lenskart acquires majority stake in eyewear brand Owndays in $400 million deal". TechCrunch. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
- ^ "Updated: Lenskart Is Raising INR 135 Cr. From TPG, TR Capital & IDG In Series C". Inc42. 2 January 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
- ^ Sarkar, Ranju (23 May 2016). "How Lenskart is defying the start-up trend". Rediff. Business Standard. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
- ^ Chanchani, Madhav; Gooptu, Biswarup (7 September 2016). "PremjiInvest invests about Rs 200 crore in eyewear portal Lenskart". The Economic Times. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
- ^ "SoftBank Vision Fund invests $275M in India's Lenskart". TechCrunch. 20 December 2019.
- ^ Bhalla, Tarush (17 May 2021). "KKR invests $95 million in Lenskart". mint. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
- ^ Singh, Manish (19 July 2021). "Lenskart valued at $2.5 billion following $220 million investment from Temasek and Falcon Edge Capital". TechCrunch. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
- ^ Mishra, Digbijay (4 July 2022). "Lenskart valued at $4.5 billion after new financing". The Economic Times. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
- ^ "Lenskart raises $100-mn in funding from private equity firm ChrysCapital". Business Line. 15 June 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ "Lenskart Secures $200 Million, Poised for Billionaire Dollar IPO". Bru Times News.
External links
- Official website