Startup news and updates: Daily roundup (May 4, 2022)

Lenskart achieves its 1000th on-ground store launch goal

Eyewear giant Lenskart which has an omnichannel presence has announced that it has launched 1000 stores in 22 states in the country. In FY 22 Lenskart added over 400 stores pan India, expanding the presence in 61 new cities. 

With the latest launch, Lenskart is now present in 223 Indian cities, including Delhi/NCR and Hyderabad. The lifestyle brand is geared up to open 500+ more stores in FY 23.

The 1000th Lenskart store at New Delhi’s Karol Bagh spans across 600 sq ft and features key highlights such as a vast variety of sunglasses and eyeglasses and the largest collection of Contact Lenses to cater to the impulsive needs of the market, where Lenskart will provide free eye testing and three clinics by trained professionals. 

“We are elated to have met our target of launching 1000 stores spanned across states in India within our targeted time-frame of FY 2022. Our ultimate vision for the long-term is to welcome 1 billion people globally, to the Lenskart family by 2027,” says Peyush Bansal, CEO and Co-Founder, Lenskart.

Digital lock startup Openapp acquires Kochi based IoT company SectorQube

Digital lock startup Openapp, has acquired SectorQube, a Kochi-based company with IoT expertise, in an all-stock deal that values the company at Rs 17.8 Crore, to roll out a range of affordable and elegant digital locks specifically designed for the country’s middle-class families.

“Our D2C business currently has a ratio of 45:55 between metros and Tier3-4 towns. We have made the acquisition to be able to exclusively create products for Bharat while taking on the incumbents and traders head-on,” said Gotama Gowda, CEO of Openapp.

As part of the deal, the co-founders of 11-year-old SectorQube, funded by Unicorn Ventures, Maker Village(IIITMK) and Ritesh Malik, will become a core part of the growth strategy of Openapp.

“Increasingly, all homes are going to get digital locks as traditional door locks will soon become cumbersome and obsolete. In a world evolved with Smartphones, NFT and EVs, carrying a physical key everywhere is an unnecessary hassle. Openapp, as a new-age security brand, is building IP in this sector so that it can make security accessible and affordable to the common man.” said Ritesh Malik, Founder Innov8 and Founder & Trustee Plaksha University.

Flipspaces acquires architect and interior design platform Renomania

Interior design tech startup, Flipspaces has announced that it has acquired Renomania, a platform for end customers to comprehensively discover and engage with architects, interior designers, and brands. The acquisition is claimed to be a 100 percent sale of the platform’s assets, database, and all technology and related IP.

Renomania, founded by Navneet Malhotra and Ritu Malhotra, has developed a web-based platform for architects, interior designers, and contractors who are present on the platform with their detailed portfolio including their extensive body of work, for end customers to interact and engage with.

Innovaccer concludes HackerCamp'22

Innovaccer Inc., the Health Cloud company, hosted the Grand Finale of its fourth annual virtual HackerCamp'22 festival, themed "Bridging the Virtual Trio: Health,  Work, and Life," on April 26. Innovaccer partnered with Microsoft and GupShup to launch the season's largest coding event, bringing together programmers, inventors, and entrepreneurs to build innovative solutions to real-world problems.

The winners of HackerCamp’22 received incubation opportunities, cash prizes, and other packages worth more than Rs 12 Lakhs, according to a statement. 

Five finalists were selected for each channel from a pool of over 50,000 applications.

Since its inception in 2017, HackerCamp says it has provided a way for the industry's brightest minds to bring their ideas to life. This year’s edition welcomed ideas from all facets of innovation, ranging from augmented reality to blockchain, virtual reality to artificial intelligence, big data, analytics, and more. HackerCamp'22 hosted two tracks — freshers and professionals.