Indian eyewear retailer Lenskart secures $95m investment from KKR

Lenskart, an eyewear retailer in India, has secured an investment commitment of $95 million from private equity firm KKR through a secondary stake acquisition.

As part of the deal, existing investors TPG Growth and TR Capital, which first invested in Lenskart in late 2014, will each sell a part of their respective stakes in the business.

Following the closing of the deal, KKR will use its experience working with major technology and eyewear companies across the world to support Lenskart in growing its footprint in India, scaling its increasing operations overseas, and boosting its digital offerings to augment the virtual and omni-store experience of customers.

Peyush Bansal – CEO of Lenskart said: “More than 600 million people in India and 4.5 billion people globally need vision correction, but only a fraction of them use it due to a lack of access, awareness, and high-quality, affordable solutions. Lenskart was founded to address this gap by leveraging technology to make eyewear accessible to everyone – first in India, and now worldwide.

“We are also working on the larger human agenda of improving people’s quality of life by allowing them to ‘Be More and Do More’ with their eyewear through our innovative products such as Lenskart Airflex, E-lock, Neuro-science lenses, and Lenskart BLU.”

Indian eyewear retailer Lenskart secures $95m investment from KKR. Photo courtesy of limorcohen from Pixabay.

Lenskart, which was launched in 2010, is said to cater to more than seven million customers annually via its omni-channel shopping experience, which include online, mobile app, and 730 stores in 175 cities across India.

In 2019, the Indian eyewear retailer expanded to Singapore. Lenskart’s digital offerings include a virtual 3D try-on tool, smart physical stores, AI-powered facial mapping and frame recommendation features, footfall tracking beacons, and others.

Lenskart’s other investors include Softbank, Premji Invest, Kedaara Capital, and Steadview Capital.

Gaurav Trehan – Partner at KKR, said: “As a technology-driven business, Lenskart is a strong, homegrown disruptor in India’s rapidly expanding eyewear industry.

“We are truly excited to work with Peyush and Lenskart’s impressive management team to support Lenskart’s growth and innovation in India and internationally, in addition to advancing its mission to provide affordable, accessible eyewear products for everyone.”