Lenskart Eyes $10 Bn Valuation, Plans For a Billion-Dollar IPO: Report Lenskart is reportedly planning to raise USD 1 billion and eyeing a USD 10 billion valuation with plans to file draft papers with the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in May this year.
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Lenskart is reportedly planning to raise USD 1 billion and eyeing a USD 10 billion valuation with plans to file draft papers with the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in May this year.
Company's chief executive Peyush Bansal and key investors in the company have reportedly discussed matters around valuation with the banking institutions managing the potential billion-dollar listing according to a report by the Economic Times, citing informed sources.
However, the report said that the plans to go public are still based on market conditions closer to tentative dates.
The company valuation that Lenskart is eyeing will be double its value during the last Series I USD 262 million plus an undisclosed sum funding round led by the likes of ChrysCapital, Infinity Partners, Chiratae Ventures, and Aditya Birla Capital.
According to the report, the source told ET that Lenskart has already started working on filing the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) in order to hit the market in 2025 and that top-brass at the company feels even more optimistic in terms of the planned valuation but this might not align with the prevailing market conditions. The source reportedly said this was to leave some room for the investors who come in through the IPO itself.
Another source as claimed said that there might not be enough time left for a pre-IPO fundraise, with the company fully ready to go public.
The eye-wear retail unicorn, currently Series I has previously raised USD 231 million in Series G funding from Tokyo-based SoftBank Vision Fund in its largest-ever funding-round in 2019. This was followed by another USD 220 million in 2021 led by Alpha Wave Global, Temasek, Chiratae Ventures, Technology Venture Partners, IFC, and Bay Capital with financial services firm Avendus facilitating both rounds, according to Tracxn.
The 2021 funding round took Lenskart to a valuation of USD 2.4 billion with recorded revenue of USD 165 million, almost double the USD 1.4 billion in 2019. The company is now at USD 5.6 billion in valuation as of November 2024, with the FY2023-24 revenue recorded at USD 678.8 million.
Lenskart currently is the market leader in its sector in India with a 79 per cent market share with retail stores across Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and the USA. The company's recent focus on the mass premium eyewear segment has also allowed it to compete with players such as the Titan Eye.
