Eyewear retailer Lenskart bags USD 95 million from global investor KKR

Global investment company KKR has reportedly entered into a definitive agreement with Indian optical prescription eyewear retail chain Lenskart to invest USD 95 million in the firm’s latest funding round, through a secondary stake acquisition.

Existing investors TR Capital and TPG Growth, who earlier invested in the omnichannel eye-wear retailer in late 2014, will each divest a fraction of their holding in the business as part of the deal.

KKR said it would invest through its Asian private equity fund and this investment is supposedly a part of a larger USD 250-300 million round.

Sources close to the matter stated that Lenskart intends to utilize the new funding to expand its footprint in India, scale its international operations, and improving its digital offerings.

For the record, Lenskart, founded in 2010, is India's largest eyewear service provider, serving over 7 million customers annually via its online, mobile app, and 730 omnichannel stores in 175 cities across the country. The company had also forayed into the Southeast Asia industry, expanding its reach to Singapore.

Peyush Bansal, CEO at Lenskart mentioned they are working on a broader human agenda of enhancing people’s quality of life by enabling them to be more and do more with their eyewear via innovative products like Lenskart BLU, Neuro-science lenses, E-lock, and Lenskart Airflex.

Apart from Lenskart, NetStars (Japan's largest QR code payment gateway), Adopt A Cow (a direct-to-consumer dairy company in China), and Walnut Programming (a children's programming education company in China) are some of KKR's recent technology-focused investments in Asia, sources cited.

KKR will use its global experience partnering with leading technology and eyewear companies to help Lenskart expand its footprint in India post the transaction.

Source Credits –

https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/kkr-invests-95-million-in-lenskart/article34576869.ece