According to Techcrunch, Indian omnichannel eyewear retailer Lenskart has secured $220 million in funding. The round was led by Falcon Edge Capital, with Bay Capital and Chiratae participating in a follow-on round. Based on the funding round, the company's valuation rises to approximately $2.5 billion.
Lenskart was co-founded in 2010 in Bangalore, India, by Peyush Bansal, a former product manager at Microsoft, and his friends Amit Chaudhary and Sumeet Kapahi. The e-commerce company offers Indian consumers a wide selection of eyewear and sunglasses, including popular brands Rayban, Oakley, Tag Heuer, and Fastrack.
"We are already the largest manufacturer of eyewear in India and the top three in Singapore." Co-founder Peyush says. He hopes to get at least 50% of Indians choosing Lenskart eyewear in the next five years and become the number one eyewear platform in Southeast Asia and the Middle East through expansion in the next 18 to 24 months.
Price is one of the platform's core strengths, and Lenskart also claims that the price points of their products are much cheaper than offline brick-and-mortar stores. Peyush explains it this way, "The omission of the intermediary link means that we can make a good profit while reducing our prices significantly. We are close to 70% cheaper than what is offered in brick and mortar stores."
The platform also offers a private customization service and a home delivery service so that consumers can choose glasses that match their usage habits. When a consumer chooses this service, an optometrist will visit the consumer directly at home. The optometrist will provide an optometry service and bring over 200 lenses to choose from and try. After the consumer has chosen, the optometrist will also finalize an online order based on the diagnosis to providing the best eye experience.
Over the decade, Lenskart has applied a multi-channel solution that combines online and offline, promoting the launch of its eyewear products through multiple channels such as desktops, cell phones, hybrid supermarkets, shopping streets, malls, and hospitals. At the same time, the company's home eye exam service, which performs over 1,500 eye exams per day, is committed to bringing this service to millions of households in India.
Currently, the company sells eyewear products online and through approximately 750 brick-and-mortar retail stores across the country, selling about 8 million pairs of eyewear in 2020. The company also recently launched the Lenskart Vision Fund, which it hopes to use as a form of investment in other young companies operating in the eyewear, eye care, and omnichannel retail space.
The eyewear company, reportedly a market leader in India, plans to expand its presence in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Lenskart forecasts indicate that the combined eyewear market opportunity in its target segments will reach approximately $15 billion by 2025.
