Temasek, Fidelity Infuse $200 Mn Into Lenskart

Singapore state investment firm Temasek and US-based Fidelity have infused $200 Mn into omnichannel eyewear unicorn Lenskart.

The investment also marks Temasek doubling down on Lenskart, while Fidelity Management & Research Company (FMR) joins the cap table, financial advisor Avendus said in a statement.

The transaction valued LensKart at $5 Bn, as per Techcrunch’s report.

This comes days after it was reported that both Temasek and Fidelity were in the final stages of discussions to back the startup with $200 Mn through a secondary share sale.

Lenskart has attracted close to $1 Bn in capital over the last 18 months, making it one of the largest growth stage startups.

“This investment by renowned global investors underscores the uniqueness of Lenskart’s disruptive model and highlights the excitement surrounding one of the most anticipated IPOs in India in the coming years,” said Neeraj Shrimali, managing director and cohead, digital and technology investment banking, Avendus Capital.

Founded in 2010 by Peyush Bansal, Lenskart is India’s largest omnichannel eyewear retailer with a growing presence in Singapore, UAE & other geographies. Lenskart has a customer base of 20 Mn in India. The company now has 2,500+ stores of which around 2,000 are in India.

Besides Lenskart expanding its reach in India, it is also quickly growing its presence in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Last year, Lenskart secured a $100 Mn investment from private equity player ChrysCapital. Earlier in 2023 itself, Lenskart raised $500 Mn from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADAI).

The Delhi-NCR based startup reported sales of INR 3,788 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23), an increase of 152% from INR 1,502.7 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

The startup primarily earned 95% of its revenue from sales of eyewear products.

Meanwhile, net loss declined 38% to INR 63.7 Cr during the year under review from INR 102.3 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

This fundraising comes at a time when the situation continues to remain grim for late stage funding as startups in this space only managed to raise $314 Mn across 13 deals in April, a decline of 50%.