Lenskart, the biggest eyewear retailer in Asia, on Thursday mentioned that it has signed definitive paperwork for a $500 million funding from a completely owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Funding Authority (ADIA). The funding might be made by way of a purchase order of each major and secondary shares and can lead to ADIA turning into one of many largest shareholders in Lenskart.
The fundraise was carried out at a $4.2 billion valuation, in response to the sources. It would lead to ADIA turning into one of many largest shareholders in Lenskart with a ten per cent stake, say sources.
“It’s nonetheless Day 1 at Lenskart. Imaginative and prescient Correction stays an enormous drawback, and Myopia charges proceed to develop quickly, touching ranges of as excessive as 80-90 per cent in some elements of Asia,” mentioned Peyush Bansal, founder & CEO of Lenskart. “Therefore, we’re nonetheless very early in our journey and have numerous work to do to proceed to make our desired influence on this space of crucial want. And ADIA, with its affected person and long-term strategy to investing, is an ideal accomplice for us as we embark on the following section of our journey.”
Completion of the transaction is topic to receipt of statutory and regulatory approvals. Upon completion of the transaction, Lenskart can have attracted near $750 million capital over the past 12 months together with latest fund-raising actions, making it one of many largest such development stage financings globally.
Lenskart continues to deepen its penetration in India whereas quickly scaling its worldwide presence in Asia and the Center East. The corporate now has over 2,000 shops of which 1,500 are in India with the steadiness in Southeast Asia and the Center East. Its new manufacturing unit, which is able to play a major position in manufacturing the 20 million pairs of eyewear that the corporate plans to ship subsequent yr, will even be able to launch quickly. Lenskart grew income by 60 per cent for the second yr in a row and is now worthwhile.
“The subsequent section at Lenskart is a journey of 10 to 100 the place we’re specializing in constructing a various tradition that permits innovation and execution at scale whereas fixing a big bottleneck hindering top quality imaginative and prescient for all, “ mentioned Bansal. “ I hope we are able to proceed to work arduous with the identical degree of humility and dedication and rework the lives of a billion folks finally.”
Hamad Shahwan Al Dhaheri, government director, Personal Equities Division, ADIA mentioned that Lenskart has quickly established itself as one of many largest and most progressive eyewear corporations globally. “Given its distinctive technology-enabled and vertically built-in enterprise mannequin, we consider the corporate stays effectively positioned to construct on its management place,” mentioned Shahwan. “This funding is a continuation of our technique of investing in extremely differentiated, market main companies in Asia linked to the area’s consumption-driven development and speedy technological development.”
