PE fund ChrysCapital invests $100 million in eyewear retailer Lenskart
Summary
Ecommerce firms like Flipkart and FirstCry are in discussions for secondary deals for their investors, ET has reported.Prior to the latest transaction, Kedaara Capital had an about 9% stake in Lenskart, while SoftBank and Premji Invest held nearly 19% and 10.4%, respectively. SoftBank, which first backed the firm in 2019, is its largest investor.Over the past few years, Lenskart has conducted secondary share sales to pave the way for partial exits to investors like Chiratae Ventures.Since its inception in 2010, Lenskart has raised $1.06 billion, including secondary share sales, according to Tracxn, a data platform for privately held startups.Lenskart, which claims to have about 20 million customers, plans to continue widening its reach in India as well as internationally, across Asia and the Middle East. It acquired Japans Owndays last year in a $400 million deal to expand its presence in markets such as Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia.Incidences of myopia are rapidly growing globally, especially in Asia, including India, with big unsolved problems of access, affordability, and awareness. Eyewear as a lifestyle category is at a very early stage in its evolution, and there is a lot of opportunity to make glasses that can uplift our quality of life significantly as seen in shoes, apparel, and watches.Lenskart has more than 1,100 stores in India and last year announced plans to add 400 more stores in the local market. According to the firm, it is working on vertical integration with a new manufacturing facility in India that will allow it to keep prices competitive, offer superior delivery times and enhance its customer service.Rajiv Batra, senior vice president, ChrysCapital Advisors, said Lenskart has a strong execution-focused management team that has established dominant market leadership in the eyewear segment.This investment aligns with ChrysCapitals strategy of backing founders that are category creators and who leverage technology to offer an outstanding customer experience, Batra added.Lenskart also runs Neso Brands - a Thrasio-style venture - which closed a financing of $100 million last year.