Latest news with #Lenskart
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
AI vision: Founder Peyush Bansal bets on ‘small, beautiful' deals to bolster Lenskart's tech capabilities
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills Eyewear retail chain Lenskart is continuing to invest in and acquire artificial intelligence (AI) companies to strengthen its technological capabilities, founder Peyush Bansal said on Friday.'We are definitely investing and acquiring a lot of AI companies right now. I always thought acquisition was a good way to speed up technology. It's not the first time. I like small, beautiful deals, which are building tech, and that has always enhanced the tech capabilities,' Bansal said at Shiprocket's Shivir, AI Commerce Edition: Made for this month, Lenskart invested in Ajna Lens, a Mumbai-based deeptech company building AI-powered XR company is reported to be planning to acquire location AI startup GeoIQ. Earlier in 2023, Lenskart had acquired Tango Eye, an AI-based computer vision startup.'We think technology first for problem solving, and AI makes it a lot more exciting for us, because for us, that journey is that the base is built, and we feed each other now. We have the super power to do things which we could not have imagined earlier,' he according to Bansal, while the company adopted AI quite early on, it is much simpler for newer firms to build with AI from the ground up than it is for large companies, which have to transform their existing plans to file papers for its draft initial public offering (IPO) this year, targeting a potential $10 billion valuation for a $1 billion public issue, ET had reported July 10, ET reported that the Gurugram-based company is likely to issue additional shares to Bansal through a structured payout arrangement, which could increase his stake in the company by 1.5-2%.The SoftBank-backed company closed a $200 million secondary round in June last year at a $5 billion valuation, with investments from Singapore sovereign fund Temasek and US financial services giant Fidelity. A month later, founders Bansal, Neha Bansal, Amit Choudhary, and Sumeet Kapahi invested almost $20 million in the company produces 25 million frames and 30-40 million lenses annually. It operates more than 2,500 stores in India and Southeast Asia and has a strong online presence.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Lenskart's Bansal set to join list of founders with pre-IPO stake boosts
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills ETtech Omnichannel eyewear retailer Lenskart is likely to issue additional shares to its founder and CEO Peyush Bansal through a structured payout arrangement, which could increase his stake in the public markets-bound company by 1.5-2%, said people briefed on the and his wife Neha Bansal, also a cofounder, currently hold a combined stake of about 12-13% in the move reflects a broader trend among consumer tech and internet companies, such as Zomato (now Eternal), Swiggy PB Fintech and Freshworks, which have awarded stock to founders ahead of their initial public offerings (IPOs) through various mechanisms.'The transaction is yet to be finalised but Bansal is likely to be allotted shares at a fair market value as determined by the bankers and the auditors. This will result in his stake going up by roughly 1.5–2%,' said one of the persons, who did not wish to be June 2024, the Bansals along with founders Amit Choudhary and Sumeet Kapahi had invested around $20 million in the executives said that for companies raising significant capital, founder stakes often get diluted, and that pre-IPO stock grants serve as a way to compensate and retain them.'It's quite common for founders to increase their stake ahead of an IPO... They see the upside and approach the board, citing their low shareholding. When a founder's stake drops significantly, boards often accommodate by allocating shares through expanded Esop (equity stock ownership plan) pools or other mechanisms,' said Anshuman Das, CEO of executive staffing firm is facilitated through increasing the Esop pool, buying out an existing investor or preferential allotments, Das said, adding, 'In large consumer tech or internet firms, heavy fundraising often leads to substantial dilution of founder equity.'Such a practice is common among new-age, venture-backed companies where founders often see greater dilution, unlike in traditional businesses where promoters retain a larger are milestone events for investors and boards tend to be more open to rewarding founders for steering the company to that point, as they should also benefit from the value created. In larger companies, where promoters hold a bigger stake, that upside comes through post-IPO share gains, said another industry sent to Lenskart did not elicit a response till press and grocery delivery company Swiggy had granted employee stock options worth around $271 million to its top management in its latest stock-based compensation plan implemented in April last year. Around $200 million worth of options from this were granted to founder and group CEO Sriharsha Majety. Swiggy listed on the bourses in November to this, in 2021, Zomato's board granted founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal 368 million stock options with a six-year exercise window that could effectively double his stake in the company from nearly 4% at tech startups, such as Freshworks, Delhivery and PB Fintech, that went public after Zomato also granted stock-based awards to their founders and top management prior to their IPOs, particularly in cases where founder stakes were under 10%. These executives include Freshworks founder and then CEO Girish Mathrubootham, Delhivery founder and CEO Sahil Barua and PB Fintech founders Yashish Dahiya and Alok cofounders Sahil Barua and Kapil Bharati along with other senior executives at the time were allotted shares worth Rs 25 crore each. Similarly, prior to the company's 2021 IPO, Policybazaar parent PB Fintech had granted 10.2 million shares to founders Dahiya and Bansal as part of its 2021 Esop scheme that was announced ahead of its public plans to file its draft IPO papers this year , targeting a potential $10 billion valuation for a $1 billion public issue, ET had reported of the persons said that the company has been meeting public market investors and that the IPO size and valuation will be finalised depending on broader market last round of funding in June 2024 valued the company at $5 billion. US-based Fidelity marked up the valuation of the omnichannel eyewear retailer by more than a fifth to $6.1 billion at the end of April 2023-24, the Gurgaon-based company's net loss shrank to Rs 10 crore from Rs 64 crore in the previous financial year, which the company attributed to technology-driven operational efficiencies. Operating revenue increased 43% to Rs 5,428 crore, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation more than doubled to Rs 856 crore.
India.com
3 days ago
- Business
- India.com
This businessman to buy company shares at a valuation of Rs 75000000000, a tenth of its targeted IPO valuation…, his name is…, name of company is…
This businessman to buy company shares at a valuation of Rs 75000000000, a tenth of its targeted IPO valuation..., his name is..., name of company is... In 2010, there was a revolution in the eyewear segment industry when a former Microsoft employee started a company with funky and go-to frames to wear. In January 2015, the company raised ₹135 crore. It was valued at over $1 billion in December 2019. The company is none other than Lenskart and its co-founder and chief executive officer is c who secured $200 million from Temasek and Fidelity in a secondary deal. Peyush Bansal is in talks with… According to latest reports, Peyush Bansal is in talks to secure a loan of Rs 200 crore and use the proceeds to increase his stake in the company. Nearly all of Lenskart's investors, including SoftBank, Chiratae, TR Capital and others, are selling some shares in the company to Bansal. Bansal, who already owns around 4 percent in Lenskart, is looking to increase his stake in the company by another 2 percentage points, through the loan he is taking out, and take his total ownership to about 6 percent by buying shares from investors. Is Lenskart in losses? Lenskart, which is aiming to file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) in the coming weeks, is preparing to raise $1 billion through an IPO at a valuation of $10 billion. Kotak, Axis Capital, Citi, Morgan Stanley and Avendus are the bankers for the issue. While Lenskart was profitable in the past, it has been incurring losses in recent years as it expands operations. In FY24, the company recorded a loss of Rs 10 crore on the back of Rs 5,427-crore revenues, filings showed.
Entrepreneur
4 days ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Lenskart Bets Big on Smart Glasses with Investment in Ajna Lens
This partnership aims to fuse Lenskart's strength in eyewear design and technology-first approach with Ajna's deep-tech expertise. You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. Eyewear brand Lenskart has made a strategic investment in Mumbai-based deep-tech startup Ajna Lens, signaling a bold move into the AI-powered Smart Glasses space. Ajna Lens, known for its cutting-edge mixed reality headset AjnaXR—winner of the CES Innovation Award 2023—is a leader in XR (extended reality) technologies. This partnership aims to fuse Lenskart's strength in eyewear design and technology-first approach with Ajna's deep-tech expertise. The goal: to make Smart Glasses both functional and accessible, with a focus on everyday wearability. "For us, Smart Glasses are glasses first," Lenskart said in a statement, emphasising consumer comfort and lifestyle alignment. With a presence in 14 countries, Lenskart plans to use its global customer insights to drive innovation in this fast-evolving category. Peyush Bansal, Co-founder and CEO of Lenskart, said, "We have been leveraging technology to create distinctive and meaningful eyewear experiences for our customers. This investment marks the next chapter in our Smart Glass journey, which began with the launch of Phonic, our audio glasses, in December 2024. As the Smart Glasses category scales rapidly, our partnership with Ajna Lens strategically positions us to accelerate product innovation in this space." Founded in 2014, Ajna Lens specialises in immersive technologies using spatial computing, AI vision, and a proprietary XR stack. The financial details of the investment have not been disclosed.
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Business Standard
04-07-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Visioning expansion: IPO-bound Lenskart sets sights on AI glasses
Eyewear unicorn Lenskart has invested in Mumbai-based Ajna Lens, a deep-tech startup specialising in extended reality (XR) and AI-powered wearable tech. The deal, the value of which remains undisclosed, marks Lenskart's first serious bet on AI-enabled smart glasses, and comes as it gears up for a $1 billion initial public offering (IPO) at reportedly $10 billion valuation. Ajna's tech is likely to power the next generation of smart eyewear for Lenskart, which already offers 'Phonic Smart Glasses' — Bluetooth-enabled glasses that allow users to take calls, play music and interact with voice assistants. But this new move takes the company deeper into wearables with AI and spatial computing at the core. Founded in 2014 and based in Thane, Ajna Lens won a CES Innovation Award in 2023 for its mixed reality headset, AjnaXR. Globally, smart glasses shipments have more than trebled since 2022, crossing 2 million units in 2024, industry estimates show. In India, the AR and VR eyewear market touched $608 million in 2024, and is projected to hit $1.67 billion by 2033, thanks to demand in gaming, health care, and education, according to IMARC Group, which is involved in market research. But the race is intensifying: The global smart glasses market, which is currently valued at over $6 billion, is expected to reach $15.08 billion by 2032, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.3 per cent. Meta dominates the space with its Ray-Ban Meta line, holding over 60 per cent of the global market in 2024, according to Counterpoint Research. Apple and Google are also in the fray. Furthermore, Xiaomi, Samsung, Baidu, ByteDance are expected to roll out products over 2025–26. Against this backdrop, Lenskart is looking to stand out by bringing together Ajna's XR stack with its own expertise in optical engineering to create 'glasses-first' wearables, prioritising vision correction and comfort alongside digital features. The Ajna investment is part of Lenskart's broader playbook to gain tech advantage and scale. It previously acquired Japanese eyewear brand Owndays in 2022 through a $400 million deal. In 2023, Neso Brands, a Lenskart subsidiary, bought a stake in Paris-based Le Petit Lunetier for $4 million. The unicorn also took over Tango Eye, an AI-vision startup, for an unknown amount. Now, the focus is on the company's IPO. US financial services major Fidelity recently increased its estimated valuation of Lenskart to $6.1 billion, according to its latest monthly portfolio disclosure, up from $5.6 billion in November last year. Lenskart recently converted into a public limited company amid its preparation for the IPO. Lenskart's operating revenue jumped 43 per cent to ₹5,428 crore in FY24 from ₹3,788 crore the previous year, while losses shrank sharply, down 84 per cent to ₹10 crore from ₹63 crore. The company runs over 2,500 stores, including 2,000 in India. It's scaling internationally too, with footprints in Southeast Asia and West Asia, powered by a 'click-and-mortar' strategy combining online, app-based, and offline experiences. The company is also setting up its largest manufacturing facility yet in Telangana, investing ₹1,500 crore under a pact with the state government to establish the unit at Fab City. Lenskart competes with players such as Titan Eyeplus, Specsmakers, Vision Express, Warby Parker, and Italian eyewear conglomerate Luxottica Group.
