Lenskart, India’s leading eye-wear retailer, is raising US $275+ million from Softbank Vision Fund, including some stake sale from early investors. The investment will be utilized for augmenting Lenskart’s tech capabilities and strengthening its supply chain infrastructure.
Avendus Capital was the exclusive financial advisor to this transaction.
Lenskart, is engaged in the manufacturing and supply of high quality eyewear products at best prices and offering one of the best consumer experiences. More than 600 million Indians and 4.2 billion people globally are affected by poor vision and need eyeglasses. However, only 170 million Indians and 1.7 billion people globally have any form of vision correction. Lenskart was formed in 2010 with a vision to solve the problem of vision correction using technology.
Lenskart has come a long way in its mission to give vision to India and the world. Five years back, no one used to talk about eyewear and spectacles in India but today it dominates the media and has become an integral part of our lives. Lenskart has completely revolutionised the eyewear space and changed the way people used to look at spectacles. Lenskart also coined the concept of free eye exams at home, office, online and within its stores conducting close to 15,000 free eye exams every day. From Tihar Jail to the largest corporates, Lenskart’s team has gone and done free eye-exams at every possible location.
Lenskart has always lived up to its ethos of making eyewear more accessible and affordable. Lenskart manufactures its own frames and lenses by using finest raw materials to ensure the highest quality and consistency in its products. Lenskart brings them directly to the consumer- eliminating middlemen and in the process, making eyewear affordable. Unusual in spectacles, but everything at Lenskart comes with a 1 year warranty and 14 day money-back-guarantee.
Lenskart uses technology and AI in every aspect of its operations- including interacting with consumers either on Apps or in stores, for the product, retail footprint, pricing, supply chain, manufacturing and logistics to deliver one of the best customer experiences in consumer retail. Lenskart has been a first at innovating many new technologies in the eyewear and retail space. Lenskart Mobile App which has over 20 million downloads allows consumers to scan their faces and get the best recommended frames that would suit them using its unique 3D AI platform. Lenskart also has a unique Home Eye-Exam service which uses mobile vision correction technology to do thousands of eye exams at the customers’ homes every day. Lenskart has also adopted a unique first-of-its kind omnichannel approach, thereby making eyewear seamlessly accessible across desktop, mobile, hypermarkets, high streets, malls, hospitals and even at home.
Lenskart, though omnichannel, works like e-commerce companies where all glasses are customised and made centrally in a state of the art fully robotic and automated fulfilment center to ensure highest precision and consistency in its glasses.
Peyush Bansal, Founder & CEO of Lenskart said, “Lenskart’s vision is to revolutionize the eye-wear industry and make a significant impact in the lives of at least a Billion people globally. We are committed to our vision and think if we can continue to create enthusiastic customers, we will get there. Technology and AI are the biggest enablers in what we do and want to achieve. Our strategy is to continuously push the bar in customer experience and surprise our customers. A large part of this investment will go towards building next generation technology and supply chain to deliver the next Billion glasses with the highest quality at best price and most amazing customer experience. We are thrilled to have Softbank Vision Fund with us in our journey. Their understanding of consumer and technology will help us build the next edition of Lenskart.”
Neeraj Shrimali, Director, Digital and Technology Investment Banking at Avendus Capital said, “Lenskart has become an epitome of building a fundamentally strong and efficient business on the back of phenomenal execution and deep sector expertise. With customer centricity at its core, Lenskart has transformed the eyewear industry in India by leveraging technology at every touch point. Vision correction is a large problem globally and we believe Lenskart with its unique approach will have a significant impact on the sector worldwide. Vertical commerce and digital native brands hold great promise in unique markets that lag on brand penetration, distribution reach and availability of high-quality products at affordable prices.”
