'Glasses Or Diamonds?': Lenskart's Rs 70,000 Crore Valuation Sparks Meme Fest On Internet

Lenskart Solutions, one of the leading eyewear retailer brand, is all set to make its debut with an initial public offering on Friday. However, Peyush Bansal, the co-founder and chief executive officer, has been facing flak over the high valuation fixed for his IPO-bound company.

Lenskart appears to be seeking a valuation that is significantly higher than its global peers. At the upper end of its price band, Lenskart’s market capitalisation on listing will be close to Rs 70,000 crore or $7.946 billion, based on financial year 2026 market cap data, according to NDTV Profit calculations.

The company's valuation metrics suggest a high premium, which is its price-to-earnings or P/E ratio. This is projected at 236.5 times for financial year 2025 and a massive 202.1 times for financial year 2026.

This received ridicule on social media with many questioning the high valuation. While one user questioned if the company is "selling glasses or diamonds", another said that if the company was valued at 50% discount, it would "still not be worth the price".

Aditya Khemka, the Chief Investment Officer and Equity Fund Manager at Incred Asset Management suggested in a sarcastic manner that Titan could demerge its eyewear business and then hire someone from Lenskart to run the company.

Another user said that the entire Indian eyewear market size is at $6 billion with only spectacles and lens market at $2.85 billion. However, Lenskart IPO is priced at $8 billion, he said.

When Peyush Bansal shrugged off the debate over valuation, it only fuelled further flak on social media. In response to NDTV Profit's question about Lenskart’s valuation, Bansal said he does not view determining valuation as part of an entrepreneur’s role. Instead, he emphasised that his responsibility lies in ensuring that customers receive the best-quality spectacles at the lowest possible price.

“I'm only justifying the value for the customer, right? How to make the best quality spectacles every day at the lowest price possible is the job,” Bansal said.

He further added that valuation is something that he understands less and it is largely determined by strong advisers, and as entrepreneur, "It is not our job to decide valuation".

A user called him out on this and said, "Jab apni baari aayi, valuation samajh nahi aayi… par #SharkTank pe doosron ke valuations judge karte hain! #Lenskart. (sic) (When it was your turn you did not understand valuation. But when you were on Shark Tank, you judged others valuation.)"

An X user using the handle name 'Save Invest Repeat' also said, "If Peyush Bansal pitched Lenskart’s valuation to Shark Tank’s Peyush Bansal then he would have got rejected."

Another user Viral Nagra has called out the sale of stake to market veteran R.K Damani. According to him, Bansal bought stake at a valuation of $1 billion in July 2025, but within three months sold the stake to Damani at a valuation of $7 billion. Now, the company is seeking $8.5 billion in valuation through the IPO.

He said, "Are we really using Damani’s 90 crore investment as “validation”? Because for him, 90 crore is peanuts, but for retail investors it’s the bait (sic)."