Lenskart

Lenskart is an Indian multinational optical prescription eyewear retail chain, based in Gurugram. Its manufacturing facility in New Delhi manufactures 3 lakh glasses a month. Lenskart is building an automated factory in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan, with an annual production capacity of 5 crore glasses.

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



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

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.

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

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

In March 2023, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority invested $500 million in Lenskart at a valuation of $4.5 billion. In June 2023, the company raised $100 million from ChrysCapital.

In June 2024, Lenskart secured $200 Million from Temasek and Fidelity.