Temasek and Fidelity Management & Research Company (FMR) have invested $200Mn in Indian eyewear retail giant Lenskart. The transaction, according to founder Peyush Bansal’s response to TechCrunch, values the online+offline company at $5Bn. The same was revealed by Lenskart’s financial advisors Avendus, via a press statement.
Adding this investment, Lenskart has now raised nearly $1Billion in growth stage capital over the past 18 months. This makes it a stark reversal and one of the rare financing stories in the otherwise grim funding scene in the Indian startup landscape. With this capital in place, Lenskart will continue to expand further in India while rapidly scaling its international presence in Asia including in Southeast Asia & Middle East.
“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. We are excited about what lies ahead for Lenskart & Peyush.”, said Neeraj Shrimali, Managing Director Avendus Capital.
Lenskart has been able to disrupt the largely unorganised Indian eyecare sector by keeping prices low, while having high efficiencies through its massive manufacturing setup in India. Apart from its online platform, the company has nearly 2500 stores across India and South-east Asia, nearly 2000 of which are in India alone. These stores act like experience centers, wherein potential customers can try on frames, get eye check ups done, select their eyewear and get it delivered to home, anywhere across the country.
