ChrysCapital invests $100m in India's Lenskart

The investment, comprising a mix of primary and secondary share purchases, comes three months after Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) agreed to invest USD 500m for a 10% stake. Other major investors include Alpha Wave Global, which provided USD 100m in April last year. KKR and SoftBank Group committed USD 95m and USD 275m in 2021 and 2019, respectively.

Chiratae Ventures was the earliest institutional backer, according to AVCJ Research, having provided USD 4m in 2011, about a year after the company’s inception. Chiratae joined Axis Asset Management and DSP Mutual Fund in a USD 39.6m round as recently as last November.

Other earlier backers include TR Capital, Epiq Capital, Steadview Capital, Kedaara Capital, Bay Capital Investment, Premji Invest, Adveq Management, TPG Growth, the International Finance Corporation, Unilazer Ventures, and Temasek Holdings.

Lenskart claims to be Asia’s largest omnichannel glasses and contact lens retailer with some 20m customers and a significant growing presence in Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. ChrysCapital has described the company as instrumental in developing the regional tech-driven eyewear market with strengths in customer satisfaction, affordability, and reliability.

Lenskart acknowledges eyewear as a lifestyle category but frames its activities as part of an impact agenda. It notes that myopia is a fast-growing problem in Asia with challenges around treatment access and awareness. “[T]here is a lot of opportunity to make glasses that can uplift our quality of life significantly as seen in shoes, apparel, and watches,” Lenskart CEO Peyush Bansal said in a statement.

Operational headway includes a gradual shifting of manufacturing capacity to India with a new, state-of-the-art factory having recently gone into operation. This is part of a vertical integration initiative hoped to keep prices competitive, speed up delivery times, and exceed customer expectations.

The most important progress came in June last year with the acquisition of Japanese counterpart Owndays – a deal that facilitated a 3-4x return for Owndays investors L Catterton Asia and Mitsui & Co. The combined business has more than 2,000 stores, of which 1,500 are in India with the balance in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

“With the acquisition of Owndays, there is an opportunity for Lenskart to expand across 10-plus Asian countries in addition to the already large Indian market,” Rajiv Batra, a senior vice president at ChrysCapital, said. “This investment aligns with ChrysCapital’s strategy of backing founders that are category creators and who leverage technology to offer an outstanding customer experience.”

ChrysCapital manages USD 5bn across nine funds. Its most recent fund - the largest dedicated India vehicle raised by any manager - closed on USD 1.4bn last year. Investment experience in retail includes W (women’s ethnicwear), FirstCry (mom-and-baby), and Wow Skin Science (beauty and personal care).

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Consumer
• Expansion
• India
• ChrysCapital Management