[Funding alert] Lenskart raises $220M led by Temasek and Falcon Edge

Lenskart, the omni-channel D2C eyewear brand and a unicorn startup, has raised $220 million led by Temasek, the sovereign wealth fund of Singapore, and Falcon Edge Capital.

This funding round takes the total capital raised by Lenskart to $315 million where global private equity player KKR had put in $95 million in a secondary transaction. Lenskart is now valued at $2.5 billion.

The current round also saw participation from Bay Capital and Chiratae Ventures.

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Avendus Capital was the exclusive financial advisor to Lenskart & its shareholders on the transaction.

The startup said it will use this funding round to expand its presence in India as well as to scale its operations in Southeast Asia and Middle East. It aims to leverage the expertise and network of Temasek and Falcon Edge in these respective geographies.

On the funding, Peyush Bansal, Founder and CEO of Lenskart said,

“We’re already the largest eyewear player in India and in the top 3 in Singapore. Lenskart envisions to have 50 percent of India wearing its specs over the next five years and become the #1 eyewear platform in Southeast Asia and Middle East over the next 18 to 24 months through organic and inorganic expansion.”

According to Lenskart, the market opportunity in South East Asia and Middle East is expected to be over $15 billion by 2025. Along with the expansion, Lenskart is also planning to use the capital to deepen its investments in technology and AI-driven innovations to create a highly personalized experience for its customers.

On the investment, Navroz Udwadia, Co-founder and Partner, Falcon Edge Capital, said,

“Lenskart has built a world-class fully backward integrated omnichannel eyewear retail experience with extreme customer centricity. This customer obsession results in Lenskart’s distinctive NPS (net promoter scores), best-in-class customer repeats/retention and store productivity.”

Lenskart serves over seven million customers annually through its omni-channel presence, which spans online, mobile application, and over 750 stores in 175 cities across the country. In 2019, Lenskart also expanded to Singapore.

The startup recently set up ‘Lenskart Vision Fund’, through which it is looking to invest in startups that are synergistic to eyewear, eye-care, and omnichannel retail to create a deep ecosystem around the eyewear segment.