Wikipedia

Lenskart

Lenskart is an Indian multinational eyewear company, based in Gurugram. As a vertically integrated company, it designs, manufactures, distributes, and retails prescription and regular eyewear.[5] It sells its products through website, mobile app and 2,000+ physical stores

Lenskart
Company typePrivate
Industry
Founded2010; 14 years ago (2010)
Founders
Headquarters
Gurugram, Haryana
,
India
Number of locations
2,000+ retail stores (2022)
Area served
Key people
Peyush Bansal (Chairman, MD & CEO)
BrandsJohn Jacobs
RevenueIncrease ₹3,788 crore (US$450 million) (FY23)[3]
Increase ₹404 crore (US$48 million) (FY23)[3]
Positive decrease ₹−64 crore (US$−7.7 million) (FY23)[3]
Number of employees
5,000+ (2020)
Subsidiaries
  • Owndays
  • Neso Brands[4]
Websitelenskart.com

Its manufacturing facility is located Bhiwadi, Rajasthan, with an annual production capacity of 5 crore glasses.[1][2]

History

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Peyush Bansal, a former Microsoft employee, founded Lenskart.com in 2010 along with Amit Chaudhary and Sumeet Kapahi.[6] In 2011, early investor IDG Ventures India directed the company to also sell wristwatches, bags and jewellery online to replicate Titan Company's business.[7][8] In 2011, the company launched Watchkart.com and Bagskart.com, and the following year, it started Jewelskart.com.[9] 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.[10]

 
Co-founder and CEO of Lenskart, Peyush Bansal

Lenskart launched the eyewear brand John Jacobs in 2017.[11][12] In October 2017, Lenskart signed up its first brand ambassador Katrina Kaif.[13][14] In 2018, the company became profitable, EBITDA positive.[15] In March 2019, the company hired Bhuvan Bam as its first male brand ambassador.[16]

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.[17]

Funding

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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.[18] 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.[19] In September 2016, Wipro's Chairman Azim Premji invested around ₹200 crore in Lenskart through his family office PremjiInvest.[20]

Lenskart was valued at over $1 billion in December 2019 after SoftBank Vision Fund invested $275 million.[21][22] In May 2021, KKR invested $95 million,[23] 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.[24] In July 2022, Lenskart was valued at $4.5 billion following a $200 million funding round led by Alpha Wave Global.[25]

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.[26]

In June 2024, Lenskart secured $200 Million from Temasek and Fidelity in a secondary deal at $5 billion valuation.[27][28]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Lenskart may shift SE Asia manufacturing to India plant". mint. 29 August 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Singh, Manish (15 March 2023). "ADIA invests $500 million in Lenskart". TechCrunch. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "Lenskart-backed Neso Brands raises $100 million, appoints Bjorn Bergstrom CEO". Financial Express. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  5. ^ "Lenskart plans to hire over 2,000 employees in India by next year". mint. 11 August 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ "Valyoo Technologies raises $4M from IDG Ventures India". Reuters. 1 November 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  8. ^ "Adjust focus: How Peyush Bansal built Lenskart into a profitable unicorn". Forbes India. 19 September 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  9. ^ "After Lenskart, Watchkart & Bagskart, Valyoo Technologies' Jewelskart.com Goes Live". TechCircle. 16 February 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  10. ^ "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.
  11. ^ PTI (13 January 2019). "John Jacobs to clock ₹500 cr revenue by March 2021". The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  12. ^ PTI (4 February 2018). "Lenskart invests $4 million to expand John Jacobs brand stores". Livemint. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  13. ^ "Lenskart ropes in Katrina Kaif as brand ambassador". Moneycontrol. 9 October 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  14. ^ "Katrina Kaif is Lenskart's first-ever ambassador". The Economic Times. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  15. ^ Bali, Shinmin (4 November 2018). "Expansion Plan: Lenskart eyes 50% market share". The Financial Express. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  16. ^ "Lenskart announces Bhuvan Bam as its new brand ambassador". Economic Times Brand Equity. 29 March 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  17. ^ Singh, Manish (30 June 2022). "Lenskart acquires majority stake in eyewear brand Owndays in $400 million deal". TechCrunch. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  18. ^ "Updated: Lenskart Is Raising INR 135 Cr. From TPG, TR Capital & IDG In Series C". Inc42. 2 January 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  19. ^ Sarkar, Ranju (23 May 2016). "How Lenskart is defying the start-up trend". Rediff. Business Standard. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  20. ^ Chanchani, Madhav; Gooptu, Biswarup (7 September 2016). "PremjiInvest invests about Rs 200 crore in eyewear portal Lenskart". The Economic Times. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  21. ^ "SoftBank Vision Fund invests $275M in India's Lenskart". TechCrunch. 20 December 2019.
  22. ^ "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.
  23. ^ Bhalla, Tarush (17 May 2021). "KKR invests $95 million in Lenskart". mint. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  24. ^ 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.
  25. ^ Mishra, Digbijay (4 July 2022). "Lenskart valued at $4.5 billion after new financing". The Economic Times. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  26. ^ "Lenskart raises $100-mn in funding from private equity firm ChrysCapital". Business Line. 15 June 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  27. ^ "Lenskart Secures $200 Million, Poised for Billionaire Dollar IPO". Bru Times News.
  28. ^ "Temasek, Fidelity pick up $200 million stake in Lenskart secondary deal at $5 billion valuation". The Economic Times. 3 June 2024. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
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