Homegrown eyewear giant Lenskart Solutions Pvt. has raised $200 million in secondary investment from Temasek and Fidelity Management and Research Co., taking its total funding secured in the past year-and-a-half to roughly $1 billion.
"This investment marks Temasek doubling down on its existing investment in Lenskart, while Fidelity joins the cap table. Following this transaction, Lenskart has attracted close to $1 billion in capital over the last 18 months, making it one of the largest growth-stage financings globally," according to Avendus, who was the exclusive financial advisor to Lenskart and its selling shareholders on this transaction.
Lenskart has emerged as a strong, omnichannel business over the past two years, expanding its online as well as offline presence. It now operates over 2,500 stores, of which roughly 2,000 are in India. It continues to deepen its penetration in India while rapidly scaling its international presence in Asia, including in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
The eyewear major posted consolidated revenue from operations of Rs 3,788 crore in fiscal 2023, up 152% from Rs 1,502 crore in fiscal 2022, according to financial statements filed with the Registrar of Companies.
The Peyush Bansal-led company's loss narrowed to Rs 63.7 crore in fiscal 2023 from Rs 102.3 crore in the year-ago period. Its employee expenditure ballooned to Rs 718 crore from Rs 245 crore, a sign of considerable expansion.
"This investment by renowned global investors underscores the uniqueness of Lenskart's disruptive model and highlights the excitement surrounding one of the most anticipated IPOs in India in the coming years," said Neeraj Shrimali, managing director and co-head of digital and technology investment banking at Avendus Capital.
"We are excited about what lies ahead for Lenskart and Peyush. In our view, more late-stage tech companies will continue to garner strong investor interest, demonstrating the robustness and excitement of the Indian consumer tech landscape.”
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