Lenskart Raises $40 Mn Funding From Chiratae Ventures

Latest Update- 29/12/2022

Even during periods that resemble recessions, Peyush Bansal-led D2C eyeglasses company Lenskart continues to raise additional money. A group of investors, including Chiratae Ventures, DSP India Fund, and Axis Bank's Axis Growth Avenues AIF-I, are investing $39.6 million (INR 323.4 crore) to the SoftBank-backed business.

The owners of Lenskart decided to issue slightly more than 1.4 million cumulative, mandatory, fully convertible Series I1 preference shares to the aforementioned investors during an extraordinary general meeting that was convened earlier this month. DSP India Fund contributed $15 million to this tranche, while Chiratae Ventures and Axis Growth Avenues AIF-1 each committed $12.2 million.

With this round, Lenskart will have raised a total of $205.5 M in 2022. In a previous round of funding, Lenskart received $100 million from Alpha Wave Ventures. Later, the company received $25 million from Epiq Capital, $28 million from Avendus Capital, and $12.5 million from Manyavar Owners Ravi Modi Family Trust.

Between funding rounds, Lenskart also closed a significant $400 million agreement to purchase the Japanese eyewear company OWNDAYS, giving it access to 13 markets, including India, Japan, and other Southeast Asian nations.

Bansal, Amit Chaudhury, and Sumeet Kapathi founded Lenskart in 2010, and the company states that it serves more than 100K clients each month. The firm says that their omnichannel shopping experience, which includes internet, mobile applications, and more than 750 locations in 175 cities across the nation, serves more than 7 million people yearly. The firm from Faridabad even entered Singapore in 2019 to grow its operations abroad. The business has so far received about $980 million over many rounds.

Last Updated- 31/7/2021

The Indian start-up scene is growing huge day by the day. The recent investment in Lenskart presents this fact and just shows the business potential India holds. The investment made by Temasek in Lenksart is great for a bunch of reasons. Firstly, it’s great news for the brand as they can now focus on expansion and building their brand name outside the Indian market, as Lenskart said they will do. Indian brands and firms have often been very limited to the Indian market and hence they have often failed to reach their highest potential net profit and consumer base. But with Lenskart making it to establish itself in the Middle East, this can be a true game-changer for other Indian start-ups as expansion is not always about the money.

Secondly, this investment can lure in a lot more international investors to India and make them invest in homegrown brands. International investors, not only bring money but also a certain reputation along with them. And when a certain start-up gets the goodwill attached to its name, it can work wonders for that particular start-up. But for many reasons, international investors have been shying away from investing in India but now with this huge investment, things can change for the good. Apart from these two major reasons, there is countless other positive repercussions this investment would have on the Indian start-up scene. For me, nothing gives me more pleasure than seeing Indian brands getting their due recognition.