ChrysCapital invests $100 Mn in Lenskart

Multi-channel eyewear brand Lenskart has scooped up $100 million from ChrysCapital via primary and secondary share purchases. This latest investment brings Lenskart's total capital infusion to nearly $850 million within the past year.

In March, the company announced a $500 million investment from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).

The ADIA reportedly acquired a 10% stake in Lenskart at a valuation of $4.2 billion. The latest valuation of the Peyush Bansal-led company could not be ascertained.

This long-term investment supports Lenskart's growth plans and strengthens its position as a global eyewear leader, the company said in a statement. With a customer base of 20 million customers, Lenskart will continue to widen its reach within India. Additionally, the company is also expanding internationally across Asia and the Middle East.

The company is gradually shifting a large proportion of its manufacturing to India with a new plant commencing operations recently. Its subsidiary Owndays is one of the leading direct to consumer eyewear brands in Japan, Singapore and other South-East Asian markets. With Owndays, the company claims that it has a presence of around 2,000 stores across more than 10 countries addressing a global TAM of approximately $20 billion.

The company picked up a majority stake in Japan-based Owndays in June 2022. As a part of the deal, the majority shareholders of Owndays – L Catterton Asia and Mitsui & Co., Principal Investments – sold their stake to Lenskart.  During the same period, Lenskart’s another subsidiary Neso Brands raised $100 million in its seed round led by KKR, Softbank, Alpha Wave Global and Temasek.

Lenskart is one of the few unicorns that slipped into losses during FY22. The company’s operating income surged 66% to Rs 1,503 crore in FY22, according to its annual financial statement filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC).  The firm recorded a loss of Rs 102 crore in FY22. Lenskart had made a Rs 29 crore profit in the fiscal year FY21.