Piyush Bansal’s Lenskart To Get Rs. 3,300 Crore From Abu Dhabi Investment Authority

Piyush Bansal’s Lenskart To Get Rs. 3,300 Crore From Abu Dhabi Investment Authority

December 14, 2022: A major chunk of Lenskart’s revenue came from sales of eyewear products, which contributed over 94 percent of its total operating revenue in FY22 while its revenue from subscription fees grew by 14 percent.

The online eyewear retailer’s revenue from leases, website license fees, scrap and customer support fees collectively stood at Rs. 36 crores.

Piyush Bansal-led eyewear brand Lenskart may soon raise $350-400 million (Rs 2,885 crore-3,300 crore) in funding from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) at a valuation of $4.5 billion, making it its largest ever fund raising.

The sovereign wealth fund is in advanced negotiations with Lenskart and its existing stakeholders. ADIA’s investment in the eyewear retailer will give it around 10 percent ownership of the company.

The funding will be largely through a secondary sale of shares with a smaller primary round of growth equity at a $4.5 billion valuation, more than double the market capitalization of US-based online eyewear retailer Warby Parker.

Some investors in the eyewear retailer are looking at a partial exit, people with knowledge of the matter told The Economic Times.

Bansal’s 12-year-old company has SoftBank, KKR, PremGInvest, Kedara Capital, Temasek, Falcon Edge, Bay Capital and Chirate Ventures as investors, however, it is not yet clear which investors will dilute their holdings.

According to Tracxn data, Lenscart has so far raised $1.05 billion in 19 rounds. Shark Tank India Judge’s company bought a majority stake in Japan’s Onday in June, giving birth to one of Asia’s largest online retailers of eyewear. Bansal’s Lenskart last year expanded its international footprint to Singapore, the US and the Middle East.

In May this year, co-founder and CEO Bansal said Lenskart is eyeing a market listing in the next 24 months.

A major chunk of Lenskart’s revenue comes from the sale of eyewear products, which contributed around 94.3 per cent to its total operating revenue in FY22 while its revenue from subscription fees grew by 14 per cent.

The online eyewear retailer’s revenue from leases, website license fees, scrap and customer support fees collectively stood at Rs. 36 crores.

Currently, Lenskart has more than 1,200 stores in India and abroad, far more than its leading domestic rival – Tata Group’s Titan iPlus – which has 760 stores.

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