Copyright indiatimes
With an expected IPO valuation of Rs 70,000 crore (around $8 billion), Lenskart’s investors have reason to see the world through rose-tinted glasses. The eyewear company’s upcoming public issue could hand its backers paper gains ranging from 5X to 17X. The company’s worth has jumped significantly over the past few years, from $2.4 billion in 2021 to $6.1 billion in 2025, when it was valued by private market investors.The Gurugram-based company filed its red herring prospectus on Sunday, with its Rs 7,300-crore public issue expected to open on October 31. The company is expected to list on November 10.Lenskart had last closed a private funding round in 2024, led by Temasek and US-based asset manager Fidelity, which valued the company at $5 billion. In June this year, Fidelity marked up the fair value of Lenskart in its books to $6.1 billion.Japanese tech investor SoftBank and homegrown private equity firm Kedaara Capital, which first backed Lenskart in 2019, are expected to see returns of 5-6 times their investment in the company’s IPO.Prior to the IPO, SoftBank owns 15% in Lenskart, while Kedaara owns around 3%.SoftBank has so far invested a total of almost Rs 2,000 crore in Lenskart through primary and secondary transactions. It is expected to sell stake worth around Rs 1,025 crore through the OFS route, while its remaining stake will be worth approximately Rs 9,000 crore.Meanwhile, Premji Invest, which owns 5% stake in Lenskart, is expected to see paper gains of 17X.Notably, most of Lenskart’s earliest backers such as Chiratae Ventures and Ronnie Screwvala’s Unilazer Ventures divested their stake through multiple secondary rounds that happened over the years.Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek, which invested in Lenskart only last year, is already sitting on paper gains of more than 4X. Other selling shareholders include Alpha Wave Global, Schroders Capital, TR Capital, Epiq Capital, and Chiratae Ventures.Also Read: ETtech Explainer: Inside Lenskart’s upcoming Rs 7,300-crore IPO
