Peyush Bansal was at his witty best at the IPO press conference held by his eyewear company, LensKart which will list on stock exchanges on November 10. His 15-year-old company has footprints today across India, Japan, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. 

Bansal, according to his own words, is eyeing global domination — similar to the IT services industry in India.

But beyond the vision, it is the valuation and the pricing of INR 70,000 Cr that has captivated market analysts. 

Only two months back, Bansal bought back shares from existing investors valuing Lenskart at $1 Bn (INR 52 per share). But the company later went on to file its IPO documents and the price band was set at INR 382-402 per share.

While Lenskart only turned profitable in FY25 posting INR 297 Cr in profit, the 70,000 Cr IPO valuation puts it a staggering 237 price to earnings multiple.

Sunny Agrawal, who heads fundamental research at SBI Securities, told Inc42 that while this share price jump within two months will be noticed by retail investors, the pricing seems to be more of a promoter-driven move to consolidate his stake in the company. 

The Titan Group of which Lenskart rival Titan Eye Plus is a subsidiary is trading at 88x PE multiple currently.

Compared to other established Indian consumer retail and lifestyle brands like Titan or Avenue Supermarkets, which are trading at a multiple between 85-110x, Lenskart is demanding a valuation that is a significant premium.

“Titan, Avenue are some of the most highly-valued, established, and profitable consumer companies in India. This pricing is likely accounting for aggressive future growth and margin expansion over the next five years,” Sahen Karmachandani, founder of wealth advisory firm, WealthInIndia said. 

Agrawal of SBI Securities points towards the fact that when at 10X multiple for price to sales, the valuation that Lenskart is seeking is at par with the global consumer companies benchmark.

“Some of the global companies trade at 10-20x sales multiple and I think that is exactly what Lenskart is comparing with. While the valuation may look hyped now, Lenskart is selling its story of betting on its future growth and topline with setting up 300 new stores in the country and expanding to newer international markets,” Agrawal added.

The SBI Securities reserch head believes the market opportunity looks humongous, but Lenskart’s business roadmap will be under scrutiny.  

Big Returns On The Anvil

Again a quirky reply from Bansal, who is also one of judges on Shark Tank India, about the valuation question: “I don’t understand valuation. I understand the value for consumers which me and my team are focussed on creating. I justify the value for the customer, I don’t have to justify valuation; it is largely done by advisers,” he said at the presser.  

However, Lenskart’s investment bankers stated that it is one of the fastest growing consumer tech companies in India today with all verticals firing. They added that interest from marquee investors who have sought allotment for the anchor book justifies the $8 Bn valuation.

Market analysts we spoke to said that the pre-IPO bets have become a strong positioning bet for institutional investors which ends up impacting the retail investor confidence. 

 

Nevertheless, the IPO promises a windfall for Bansal and other existing shareholders. Early investors like SoftBank and TPG will look to cash out at eye-popping 5–17x returns on their original investment.

The founder-CEO will take home a payout of INR 824 Cr by selling 2.05 Cr shares at the upper price band of Rs 402 as part of the OFS tranche. Bansal will continue to own an 8.78% stake in Lenskart after the IPO. Pre-IPO grey market activity indicates a 25% premium on listing.

His sister Neha Bansal, who is also listed as a cofounder in the company, owns over 7% stake and is offloading about 10.1 Lakh shares for an estimated payout of INR 40.62 Cr

The Fate Of Overpriced IPOs 

A peer to peer comparison of Lenskart with some of the biggest consumer tech IPOs evokes a mixed response from the analysts. 

Paytm’s forgettable November 2021 listing for instance at a staggering $20 Bn valuation while it was still loss making set a stage for consumer tech companies in India to reevaluate how they are pricing their issues. 

Paytm listed at a 9% discount to its IPO price with stock crashing as much as 80% in the first year on the market. 

Paytm’s IPO size was over $2 Bn, and it was looking at close to 80x in earnings multiple at the time. While Lenskart is asking for investments at a much higher multiple, the key difference is the profitability. How much weight will the profitability carry? 

“We also need to factor in the EBITDA margin of 15% which Lenskart is claiming in FY25 and has shown a decent growth. However, compared to global peers, Lenskart needs to work further on improving margins for which international markets may be a good option,” said Agrawal of SBI Securities.

But in the case of Swiggy or Nykaa, the markets reacted positively despite the losses and high multiples. Nykaa listed at a 377x PE multiple in 2021 and listed at 70% premium to its issue price. 

Like Lenskart, Nykaa was more or less the single largest player in an industry with a tech-driven marketplace.

WealthInIndia’s Karamchandani said that big brands in the startup ecosystem will naturally invite some appeal from the retail investors which makes them invest in such firms despite losses or thin margins. 

“Usually the valuations price in the growth for the next 5 years of a company when it comes to new-age companies. First, Lenskart is still profitable and second it says that its international business is growing fast. These will act in the favour of the eyewear firm which has already been trading at a decent price in grey markets,” he added. 

Putting Glasses On 1 Bn Eyes 

By Bansal’s admission, Lenskart’s supply chain, although largely in-house, is still complicated as it is reliant on imports for lenses. 

The manufacturing operations will need strong capital infusion to scale up and replace imports. The company is also entering wearables and smart eyewear space, which will require considerable investment too. 

India is still 60% of Lenskart’s business and the growth has slightly tapered in FY25 compared to FY24 as we noted in our previous Lenskart analysis. 

But Lenskart management is bullish on concern. “We want to be present in every city. And when I say expansion, it is backed by science and data which tells us the consuming behaviour, patterns of the people in that geography, the section they are from- we then decide upon launching stores. And our store’s payback is usually not more than a year,” he added.

Bansal also underlined that foreign markets are equally ripe for disruption, as eyewear products in developed economies are priced nearly 10x higher than India.

“We see a huge opportunity in global markets where eyewear affordability is still a big issue. Our focus is on building high-quality, well-designed eyewear at accessible price points and delivering that value globally,” Lenskart’s Bansal said. 

He added that Lenskart’s two large-scale manufacturing facilities—one in Gurugram and another coming up in Telangana—will be key to realising these ambitions, allowing the company to achieve both cost efficiency and scale as it expands internationally.

For a company that began by simplifying how Indians buy glasses, Lenskart’s next leap—into global markets—will test whether its model can travel as effectively as Bansal hopes.

Agrawal of SBI Securities said that Lenskart has thus far been focussed on a volume-centric business model relying on store counts, number of transactions. However there seems to be a shift towards addressing supply chain gaps by strengthening manufacturing facilities in India. 

But coming back to the question of the valuation. Bansal’s insistence that he “understands value, not valuation” may sound disarming, but it also captures the essence of Lenskart’s pitch: that genuine consumer value will eventually justify lofty investor expectations. 

“Only investors with a very high-risk appetite and a long-term investment horizon of 5+ years who believe the company can sustain 40%+ compounded earnings growth for the foreseeable future should consider a fundamental investment,” WealthInIndia Karamchandani said. 

International operations are generating a substantial portion of the company’s total revenue (~40% in Q1 FY26 and FY25). This is rare for an Indian consumer brand,” he added.

SBI Securities’ Agrawal agreed that retail investors who are looking for quick turnarounds may not find Lenskart IPO to be of much interest since the company is focussed on long-term growth with a few years time horizon. 

As the eyewear firm prepares to debut on the public markets, its success or stumble will likely set the tone for how India’s next generation of profitable consumer tech startups are judged—on hype or on hard numbers.

If Lenskart can deliver on its promise of putting stylish, affordable eyewear on a billion eyes, its IPO might not just be a financial event, but a defining moment for India’s global consumer brand ambitions.