Lenskart to build world's largest eyewear facility in Telangana

Peyush Bansal-led multi-channel eyewear brand Lenskart will invest ₹1,500 crore to set up the world's largest eyewear manufacturing facility in Telangana, Sridhar Babu Duddilla, minister for IT, industries and commerce and legislative affairs said today.

"Very delighted to announce the signing of an MOU with @Lenskart_co today wherein Lenskart would be setting up the world's largest Eyewear manufacturing facility in Telangana with an investment of around 1,500 cr rupees," the minister says.

The Lenskart facility will be established at Fab City, Telangana, where the land has already been identified and will be handed over to the company this week, the minister said.

The facility will produce eyewear, lenses, sunglasses, as well as accessories and other products catering to India, along with exports to other markets in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, the minister said. "The plant will create around 2,100 jobs and there is a purported discussion around an R&D plant being set up. This is a testament to our policy that ensures speed and ease of business for companies," says the state IT minister.

Lenskart, last valued at $5.6 billion, has been on a fund-raising spree, attracting over $1 billion in investment in less than two years. It raised $200 million in June this year via secondary funding, followed by a $20 million infusion.

In October 2023, the competition regulator approved the acquisition of a 1.74% stake in Lenskart by private equity (PE) fund Kedaara Capital Fund III LLP on a fully diluted basis.

Before that in June 2023, the Peyush Bansal-led company had received $100 million in funding from another PE player ChrysCapital via primary and secondary share purchases, which attracted close to $850 million in capital.

Lenskart last year also signed definitive documents for a $500 million investment from a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) via a purchase of both primary and secondary shares, making ADIA one of the largest shareholders in Lenskart.

Other major backers of Lenskart include SoftBank and Alpha Wave Incubation. The company had raised ₹760 crore from Alpha Wave in 2022, while it received about $95 million worth of funding from KKR in 2021.

The company's revenue for the fiscal year 2023-24 rose 43% to ₹5,427.7 crore from ₹3,788 crore in the previous fiscal year, while its losses were reduced by 84% to ₹10 crore in FY24 from ₹63 crore in FY23.

On June 30 last year, Lenskart tied up with Japanese direct-to-consumer eyewear brand Owndays to build the region’s largest Omni-channel eyewear business. It will take the group’s reach to 13 markets in Asia, including India, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Japan.