India’s Lenskart, an online retailer of spectacles, sunglasses and literally all things glasses, is the latest unicorn to come out of the country. And once again, its Softbank that is increasing this startup’s valuation.(Softbank making unicorns seems to be happening rather frequently ?!?!?). According to papers filed with India’s companies regulator (via Paper.vc), Lenskart completed a Series G round of funding led by Softbank Vision Fund.
According to filed documents, the company passed a board resolution on December 12, 2019 approving the allotment of 22,976,465 (22.9 million) Series G compulsorily convertible cumulative preference shares to SVF II (Cayman Islands) Lightbulb. As part of the deal, SVF appears to be investing ₹1645 Crores (~$231M) by paying ₹714 (~$10) per share (a 356x premium against face value). This, by estimates, will zoom Lenskart’s valuation past that $1B mark, valuing it in the vicinity of $1.5 Billion.
Lenskart is one of those unique hybrid ecommerce models that a select few ecommerce brands in India have been able to master. The company works on an offline+online hybrid, wherein it offers eyewear through its ecommerce platform as well as through a chain of offline stores across India. Lenskart has its own manufacturing facilities as well, wherein it invested close to $5 Million to manufacture close to 300,000 frames a month.
The company more recently, announced that it is enroute to achieving profitability as its offline business has panned out well. Lenskart recorded a 63.2% surge in revenue while it controlled losses by a whopping 73.2% during FY19. During FY19, its total operating revenue was Rs 474.31 crore, a significant jump from Rs 292.35 crore in FY18, according to the firm’s regulatory filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA).
