LENSKART

Lenskart is an e-commerce platform which specialises in eyewear accessories.

The platform operates in both online and offline distribution modes, offering its
customers the liberty to purchase products either online or through their
exclusive offline stores. The company facilitates a range of services such as
home eye checkups. Lenskart recently earned the unicorn company status
towards the end of 2019. 
 
As of now the platform has over 5,000 styles of frames and a range of different
kinds of lenses. It manufactures, assembles, distributes, and supplies its
products across 460 stores across India.

Lenskart
products

reading computer eye

specs goggles sunglasses contact lens frames anti-glares
glasses glasses accessories. 
ORIGIN

Around 1/3rd of the population needs glasses but only some of them managed
to get access to them. Besides, India is also popular as the blind capital of the
world, which has last recorded nearly 15 million people who are blind. This is
the sole reason why Peyush Bansal decided to found "VALYOO
technologies.".
Lenskart was founded by Peyush Bansal and Amit Chaudhary in 2010. Venture
capital firm IDG Ventures bet early and invested $4 million in Valyoo
Technologies, which owned Lenskart, in November 2011.
Just before it raised money, the duo roped in Sumeet Kapahi as the third
founder. Kapahi was a business development manager of Luxotica India
Eyewear (Rayban).
By then, Valyoo had launched two other e-commerce verticals, bagskart and
watchkart, followed by jewelskart. All of these were shut down in 2013. 
Lenskart started home eye check-ups, which became pivotal as people started
talking about the initiative. Today, it conducts 3,500 eye exams a day and 150
camps in a month. Customers may not buy immediately but 40-50 per cent
come back to buy from Lenskart.
The Lenskart co-founder aimed to make his company the "Maruti of eyewear".
When the company started, Lenskart initially served 30 customers in a day,
which soon multiplied to become 3000.

Lenskart - Industry | Target Market Size

The market for eyewear in India has recorded revenues at around $4,427 mn in
2021. With a market volume of $1,985 mn, spectacle lenses have been
occupying the largest segment in the market.

Lenskart was established with the aim of providing ‘Vision to India.' In line

with this, they recently developed Lenskart Lite, a low-cost franchise model
aimed at upcountry markets, especially tier 3 and 4 markets. The model, which
is aimed at micro-entrepreneurs, needs a Rs 20 lakh investment. The format
brings in about Rs 4-6 lakh per month in revenue. They already have a standard
Lenskart franchise model for the tier-2 markets, with an investment criterion of
Rs 35 lakh and estimated monthly revenues of Rs 8-10 lakh.
Lenskart Ownership

Lenskart has a list of owners. The majority of the company's stakes are with
Softbank, which controls 20.12% of the stakes.

The other owners of the company are:

 6.59% - UNILAZER
 5.36% - International Finance Corporation
 5.32% - Steadview Capital
 17.24% - Others

Lenskart Shareholders

Lenskart last listed over 5000 employees working with the company in August
2021.

Lenskart - Funding and Investors

Lenskart raised $100 mn in its last funding round as per the reports

dated April 11, 2022, which was led by Alpha Wave Incubation, which was
earlier called Falcon Edge. It then added another $25 mn to the same (Series
I) round on April 27, 2022, which was led by Epiq Capital. The unicorn
eyewear retail chain and eCommerce company raised Rs 190.05 cr from Epiq in
the second tranche of the Series I round by allotting 910,412 Series I preference
shares at an issue price of Rs 2085.52 per share, at a valuation of $4.32 billion.

Lenskart has raised around $927.2 mn of funding to date, as of June 10, 2022.

The funding and investor details of Lenskart are as follows-

Date Round Amount Lead Investors

Private
Avendus Future Leaders
June 9, 2022 Equity $28.2M
Fund II
Round
April 27, 2022 Series I $25M Epiq Capital
Alpha Wave Incubation
April 11, 2022 Series I $100M
(Previously Falcon Edge)
Alpha Wave Global and
July 19, 2021 Series H $220M
Temasek Holdings
Secondar
May 16, 2021 $95M Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
y Market
Dec 20, 2019 Series G $275M SoftBank Vision Fund
Sep 16, 2019 Series F $55M Kedaara Capital
Secondar
Aug 7, 2018 - Epiq Capital
y Market
Secondar
Jan 9, 2017 ₹240M Unilazer Ventures
y Market
Sep 6, 2016 Series E ₹2B PremjiInvest
May 4, 2016 Series D $60.1M -
Jan 2, 2015 Series C $21.9M TPG, TR Capital
Dec 1, 2012 Series B $10M -
Oct 1, 2011 Series A $4M Chiratae Ventures
Lenskart - Investments

Lenskart has made 6 investments to date. Here are the details of the Lenskart
investment rounds.  

Organization
Date Round Amount
Name
December Seed
Tango Eye Yes
30, 2021 Round
Metadome
December Seed
(formerly -
20, 2021 Round
Adloid)
Oct 13, Seed
Tango Eye $500K
2020 Round
 Venture
May 7, 2018 ThinOptics $500K
Round
Nov 11,
6over6 Series A $11M
2017
Sep 23,
Ditto Ditto $1M
2017

Lenskart - Acquisitions

Lenskart acquired DailyJoy on April 27, 2021, which was the only

acquisition of the company until it picked up a majority stake in Owndays,
a direct-to-consumer (D2C) eyewear brand from Japan on June 30, 2022.
The Owndays acquisition will help expand Lenskart's presence to 13+ markets
in Asia, including Japan. According to the deal, Owndays shareholders - L
Catterton Asia, Principal Investments, and Mitsui & Co., will sell their stakes to
Lenskart.  

Deal
Company Acquired Date
Value
$400
Owndays June 30, 2022
mn
DailyJoy April 27, 2021 -

Lenskart - Revenue and Growth

The Lenskart operating revenues witnessed less than 1% growth, which was Rs
900.2 crore in FY20 and became Rs 905.3 crore during FY21.
Lenskart Financials Y-O-Y Growth during FY17-FY21

Lenskart subsidiary Neso Brands

Neso Brands, a subsidiary of Lenskart, is a Singapore-based global eyewear

brand founded in 2022 to empower the DTC brands and help them turn into
brands of the future. Lenskart's D2C venture was registered as Neso Brands
which was waiting for some funds.

Neso Brands raised $100 mn in funding in one of the largest seed rounds raised
by any startup, as announced on May 16, 2022. With huge investors like Alpha
Wave, Temasek, Softbank, and more, Neso Brands aims to partner and invest in
consumer eyewear brands and help them grow by leveraging synergies across
the Lenskart Group.

CASE

Lenskart Solutions Pvt. Ltd. v. M/s. Lenspark Optician

The Plaintiff, an eyewear company selling various products throughout

the country, contended that had it adopted and used the fanciful and
inherently distinctive trademark “LENSKART” since 2009. Additionally,
the Plaintiff contended that it was the owner and proprietor of the
copyright in the original artistic work contained in the label. Lastly, the
Plaintiff claimed that it had a business of several crores of rupees and
that the brand was immensely popular.
The Defendant adopted the name “Lenspark” in the use of its optical
retail store at Aurangabad, Maharashtra. The Defendant did not
effectively respond to the cease-and-desist notice or the summons of the
suit, nor did it file a written statement within the stipulated time period.
The Court held that the term “Lenspark” was an infringement of the
Plaintiff’s trademark as well as copyright rights enjoyed by it. The Court
passed a decree of permanent injunction in favour of the Plaintiff,
awarded Rs. 25,00,000/- as punitive damages, cost of the suit, and
ordered for destruction of all products and materials bearing the
infringing trademark “LENSPARK”.