Online eyewear firm Lenskart plans to launch its initial public offering (IPO) in the next three years to create value and provide exit option to existing shareholders.
“As the company grows, we see IPO will create more value for everybody. We are building values with various investments in technology development in the eyewear segment, and from the IPO we will chart out our growth path. We expect to launch it in next three years,”Founder and Chief Executive, Lenskart, Peyush Bansal told PTI.
According to a PTI report: Lenskart expects to register 100 per cent revenue growth at around Rs 600 crore by the end of 2017-18.
The company has till date raised around Rs 700 crore from various sources, with private equity firm TPG Global being one of the lead investors.
Bansal said that the company does not require any immediate funding but listing on market will make the company’s position stronger and an option for existing investors to exit.
“We are growing 100 per cent year-on-year. In 2016, it (revenue) was around Rs 300 crore and this fiscal we expect Rs 600 crore. We are operationally in profit. In next six months, we will be EBDITA (Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) positive. Investors have smooth exit option at present also. The IPO will provide them another option,” Bansal was quoted by PTI as saying.
Lenskart mostly sells its eyewear products from its online platform. The company has presence across 90 cities and is looking to expand across more Tier-II cities in 2018, including Coimbatore, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Surat, Kanpur, Chandigarh, Guwahati, Bhubaneswar, etc.
“Our strategy is to give brand experience in India’s eyewear market which is 90 per cent dominated by unorganised businesses. Out of the estimated Rs 20,000 crore eyewear market, only 10 per cent of business is done by organised players. To reach out to our target consumers, we are focusing and investing on technologies,” Bansal told PTI.
He said that the company is investing Rs50-60 crore every year on technology development.
“We have created 3D try-on service at Lenskart which is being used by 6,000-7,000 people daily on their mobile phones to check frames that will suit them. Now, we are working on technology to bring eye checkup on our app without any attachment to mobile phones. We want to go 100 per cent on mobile,” Bansal was quoted by PTI as saying.
The company has been making lenses for eyewears and is now setting up a manufacturing unit for frames at Manesar in Gurugram.
“We are investing around Rs 60 crore to set up the manufacturing unit. This will be one of largest eyewear manufacturing facilities in South East Asia,” Bansal told PTI.
He said that the company is also expanding its offline presence from 300 stores at present to 500 by the end of 2017.
The company has till date raised around Rs 700 crore from various sources, with private equity firm TPG Global being one of the lead investors
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