Inside Lenskart's growth plans post-listing; VCs backing early-stage startups in 2025

Hello,

Lenskart has bigger plans post its market debut.

The omnichannel eyewear retailer is now sharpening its push into wearables, with plans to launch its AI-enabled smart glasses—B by Lenskart Smart Glasses—in Q4 FY26. 

According to its shareholder letter, the company is positioning smart glasses as a natural extension of its vertically integrated model by building the hardware, software, and mobile app entirely in-house on the Gemini AI platform.

In its first earnings post its tepid IPO, the Peyush Bansal-led company reported 21% growth in operating revenue at Rs 2,096 crore, driven by volume, with the number of eyewear units growing 21.7% in the second quarter.

Here’s what Lenskart said in its post-earnings letter.

Meanwhile, Groww, in its efforts to diversify beyond a derivatives-heavy brokerage model, has infused an additional Rs 104.4 crore into Fisdom, its recently acquired wealthtech subsidiary. The company bought 87,384 shares at Rs 11,954.94 apiece. 

Amidst the numerous volcanic and seismic events around the world, India has released a major update to its national seismic zonation map under the revised Earthquake Design Code, placing the entire Himalayan arc in a newly created highest-risk Zone VI for the first time.

According to scientists, it is one of India’s most significant seismic assessment revisions in decades.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Building an inclusive MSME economy
• VCs backing early-stage startups in 2025

Here’s your trivia for today: Which California peak known for its 1915 eruption is the world's largest lava dome?

SMB

Building an inclusive MSME economy

India’s MSMEs power the economy, yet many—especially those led by women—remain excluded from formal credit and sustainable solutions. In a conversation with SMBStory, Irem Sayeed, Chief Risk Officer at UGRO Capital, explains how the company is working to close this gap.

“MSMEs are central to India’s climate-resilient future, but outdated processes, limited awareness, and restricted access to sustainable finance often hold them back,” says Sayeed. “The challenge is even greater for women-led enterprises that operate in informal clusters with limited technical exposure.”

Pathways:

• Many of the sectors where women-led MSMEs are most active—food processing, healthcare, garments, rural micro-manufacturing, and WASH—are also the ones ripe for green transformation.
• UGRO sees strong demand for solutions both commercially valuable and environmentally efficient, ranging from energy-efficient machinery and rooftop solar systems to electric mobility solutions, water conservation, sanitation, and hygiene-focused enterprises, and modern waste-management technologies.
• Another crucial shift is how UGRO structures repayments. Instead of rigid EMIs, loans are tailored to payback cycles from energy savings or efficiency gains.

In depth

VCs backing early-stage startups in 2025 

If 2025 revealed one unmistakable trend in India’s startup ecosystem, it was the comeback of early-stage investing. As marquee public listings delivered strong returns this year, the country’s top venture capitalists showed renewed willingness to open their chequebooks to young founders.

Amidst a critical investment year, a period during which a string of VCs also refreshed their capital pools with new funds, here is a look at the top 10 VCs who kept capital flowing and stood out as 2025’s most active backers. 

Key takeaways:

• According to Tracxn, 2,130 startups raised funding in 2025, and more than 1,300 of them were at the early-stage. Together, these Seed and Series A stage companies bagged a total of $3.85 billion in investments.
• The top ten most active VCs accounted for 15% of overall investments in the startup landscape, with a majority of players hopping onto company cap tables during the early stage. Of these investments, almost half were in the seed and Series A stages.
• Only 10% of the total deals this year went to Series B and Series C (growth-stage) companies, and about 5% reached late-stage startups (Series D and beyond). Despite the dip, investors have put on a brave front, dismissing any concerns.

News & updates

• Glitch: Thousands of Airbus planes are being returned to normal service after being grounded for hours due to a warning that solar radiation could interfere with onboard flight control computers. Airbus said around 6,000 of its A320 planes were affected, with most requiring a quick software update. Some 900 older planes need a replacement computer.
• Stay put: Meesho is set to launch a roughly $606 million IPO marked by token sell-downs from early backers and no sales from big names such as SoftBank and Prosus, signalling investor conviction in India’s booming online retail market at a time when tech shareholders globally have been cashing out at listings.
• Loans: Amazon is preparing to offer loans to small businesses in India, while Walmart-owned Flipkart is looking at buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) products as the ecommerce giants take on the country's banks with a push into financial products.

Which California peak, known for its 1915 eruption, is the world's largest lava dome?

Answer: Lassen Peak.

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