Temasek, Falcon Edge Capital, funds Lenskart at USD 220 Million
Lenskart has completed its funding at USD 220 Million by Temasek and Falcon Edge Capital.
On Monday, Lenskart, an eyewear retailer in India, said, "it has completed a USD 220 million (about Rs 1,644.2 crore) transaction, led by Temasek and Falcon Edge Capital." "The current round also saw participation from Bay Capital and Chiratae", a statement said. The statement further added, "this round of funding comes a month after it raised USD 95 million from global investment fund KKR, taking the total transaction size to USD 315 million."
"With this, the vision of Lenskart is to grow exponentially in the coming three-four years, expanding its presence in India as well as scaling its growing operations in Southeast Asia and Middle East," the statement said. "The company aims to leverage the deep expertise and network of Temasek and Falcon Edge in these respective geographies", it added. "The market opportunity for Lenskart in these target geographies is expected to be over USD 15 billion by 2025", the company noted.
As reported by The Indian Express, "Along with the expansion, Lenskart is also planning to use the capital to deepen its investments in technology and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven innovations to create a highly personalised experience for its customers." Recently, the company has set up 'Lenskart Vision Fund', through which it is looking to invest in startups that are synergistic to eyewear, eye-care, and omni-channel retail to create a deep ecosystem around the eyewear segment.
"We're already the largest eyewear player in India and in the top 3 in Singapore. Lenskart envisions to have 50 per cent of India wearing its specs over the next 5 years and become the number one eyewear platform in Southeast Asia and Middle East over the next 18-24 months through organic and inorganic expansion," Lenskart founder and CEO Peyush Bansal said.
Till now, Avendus Capital was the exclusive financial advisor to Lenskart and its shareholders on the transaction. Annually, Lenskart serves over 7 million customers through its omni-channel shopping experience, which spans online, mobile application, and more than 750 omni-channel stores in 175 cities across the country. Lenskart also expanded to Singapore in 2019, marking its foray into Southeast Asia where it is now a key optical service provider.
