Lenskart, an omni-channel eyewear retailer in India, and KKR, a global investment firm, has announced the signing of definitive agreements under which KKR will invest US$95 million in Lenskart via a secondary stake acquisition.
Upon the completion of the transaction, KKR will look to leverage its experience working with technology and eyewear companies globally to support Lenskart in expanding its presence in India, scaling its growing operations overseas, and enhancing its digital offerings to augment customers’ virtual and omni-store experience.
As part of the transaction, existing investors TPG Growth and TR Capital, who first invested in Lenskart in late 2014, will each divest a portion of their holding in the Company.
Lenskart was launched with a vision to revolutionize eyewear in India and globally. Established in 2010, the Company is a service provider for eyewear in India, serving over 7 million customers annually through its omni-channel shopping experience, which spans online, mobile application, and 730 omni-channel stores in 175 cities across the country. In 2019,
Peyush Bansal, CEO of Lenskart, said, “At Lenskart, we are obsessed with our customers, technology, and making world a better place through easily accessible, best-quality eyewear. More than 600 million people in India and 4.5 billion people globally need vision correction, but only a fraction of them use it due to a lack of access, awareness, and high-quality, affordable solutions. Lenskart was founded to address this gap by leveraging technology to make eyewear accessible to everyone – first in India, and now worldwide. We are also working on the larger human agenda of improving people’s quality of life by allowing them to ‘Be More and Do More’ with their eyewear through our innovative products such as Lenskart Airflex, E-lock, Neuro-science lenses, and Lenskart BLU.”
“I feel we are still scratching the surface and have a lot of work to do over next 10 years in India and globally,” Mr. Bansal added. “In the next five years, we aspire to have 50% of India wearing our specs. Today’s announcement is a milestone and a step towards that goal. We are thrilled to welcome KKR as an investor given their significant experience working with leading global eyewear retailers such as National Vision and 1-800 Contacts as well as technology-focused businesses globally. We look forward to working alongside KKR to elevate Lenskart to its next phase of growth.”
Gaurav Trehan, Partner at KKR, said, “As a technology-driven business, Lenskart is a strong, homegrown disruptor in India’s rapidly expanding eyewear industry. We are truly excited to work with Peyush and Lenskart’s impressive management team to support Lenskart’s growth and innovation in India and internationally, in addition to advancing its mission to provide affordable, accessible eyewear products for everyone.”
KKR is making its investment from its Asian private equity fund. Lenskart is KKR’s latest investment that supports industry-leading consumer companies enabled by technology. Recent technology-focused investments for KKR in Asia include Adopt A Cow, a digitalized, direct-to-consumer dairy company in China, NetStars, the operator of Japan’s largest QR code payment gateway, and Walnut Programming, a children’s programming education company in China.
Avendus Capital advised Lenskart on the transaction. Additional details of the transaction are not disclosed.
Arya has been a part of the Content & Research Team at Hrnxt.com. She is a keen observer of economic developments, emerging businesses, people in business and keeps a tab on latest happenings in the business environment.