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Eyewear retailer <keyword id="1518229" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lenskart">Lenskart</keyword> on Monday announced it has raised $220 million in fresh funding led by Temasek and <keyword id="4675626" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Falcon-Edge-Capital">Falcon Edge Capital</keyword>, taking its valuation to nearly $2.5 billion. The company recently raised $95 million from <keyword id="2527060" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Global-Investment-Fund">global investment fund</keyword> <keyword id="6354544" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="kkr">KKR</keyword>, taking the total transaction size to $315 million to date. The current round also saw participation from Bay Capital and <keyword id="6947922" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="chiratae">Chiratae</keyword>, the company said in a statement. "We're already the largest eyewear player in India and in the top 3 in Singapore. Lenskart envisions to have 50 per cent of India wearing its specs over the next five years and become the #1 eyewear platform in Southeast Asia and Middle East over the next 18 to 24 months through organic and inorganic expansion," Founder and CEO Peyush Bansal said. The company said that fresh funds will help it expand its presence in India as well as scaling its growing operations in Southeast Asia and Middle East. "Lenskart has built a world-class fully backward-integrated omnichannel eyewear retail experience with extreme customer centricity," Falcon Edge Capital co-Founder and <keyword id="11674262" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="partner-navroz-udwadia">Partner Navroz Udwadia</keyword> said. The market opportunity for Lenskart in target geographies is expected to be over $15 billion by 2025. Along with the expansion, Lenskart is also planning to use the capital to deepen its investments in technology and AI-driven innovations to create a personalised experience for its customers. Founded in 2010, Lenskart is currently serving over seven million customers annually through its <keyword id="2535292" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Omni-channel">omni-channel</keyword> shopping experience with more than 750 omni-channel stores in 175 cities. In 2019, Lenskart expanded to Singapore -- marking its foray into Southeast Asia -- where it is now a key service provider for opticals. In May, Lenskart and KKR, a global investment firm, announced the signing of definitive agreements under which KKR invested $95 million in Lenskart via a secondary stake acquisition. SEE ALSO - <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/apple-could-finally-bring-the-always-on-display-feature-on-the-iphone-13/articleshow/84542970.cms">Apple could finally bring the always-on display feature on the iPhone 13</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/g-r-infraprojects-ipo-makes-a-strong-listing-on-exchanges-with-over-100-premium-shares-open-at-1700/articleshow/84542747.cms">G R Infraprojects IPO makes a strong listing on exchanges with over 100% premium, shares open at ₹1700</a>

Lenskart raises $220 million to launch in Middle East, Southeast Asia

<ul><li>The investment, which is <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword>’s first in an Indian consumer brand, pegs <keyword id="3030142" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="MyGlamm">MyGlamm</keyword>’s valuation at $100 million.</li><li>Founded in 2017 by Darpan Sanghvi and co-founded by Priyanka Gill, MyGlamm competes with the likes of SUGAR, Purplle, Plum among others.</li><li>MyGlamm now records revenues 200% of pre-Covid levels and also claims to have achieved EBITDA profitability.</li></ul>Direct-to-consumer (DTC) beauty and skincare brand MyGlamm has raised ₹175 crore from Amazon, <keyword id="10862" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Wipro">Wipro</keyword> Consumer and Ascent Capital. The investment, which is Amazon’s first in an Indian consumer brand, pegs MyGlamm’s valuation at $100 million. However, Amazon’s individual investment amount remains undisclosed. Founded in 2017 by Darpan Sanghvi and co-founded by Priyanka Gill, MyGlamm competes with the likes of SUGAR, Purplle, Plum among others. MyGlamm has over 600 products across makeup, skincare and personal care, with a content-to-community-to-commerce platform approach. “We are really excited about all that we will be able to learn from both, Amazon and Wipro Consumer along with the financial rigour that Ascent Capital brings, as we move forward to fulfil our vision of building India’s largest beauty company leveraging DTC, digital, and data,” said Sanghvi in a statement. MyGlamm had earlier <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/popxo-gets-acquired-by-mumbai-based-beauty-commerce-platform-myglamm/articleshow/77398634.cms">acquired</a> six-year-old <keyword id="3128172" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="POPxo">POPxo</keyword>, the online community startup for women. With the acquisition, POPxo’s investors Chiratae Ventures, Kalaari Capital, and Neoplux Venture Capital had joined the board of MyGlamm. Along with a digital presence, MyGlamm also focuses on offline retail with over 10,000 points of sales across 70 cities in India. The company, which claims to have grown by 400% in 2019, had to halt its Series C round, initially intended to be closed by April 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the company said that from zero revenue during the months of strict lockdown, MyGlamm now records revenues 200% of pre-Covid levels and also claims to have achieved EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) profitability in December 2020. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/indian-spacetech-startup-pixxel-space-gets-7-3-million-funding-before-the-launch-of-its-first-satellite/articleshow/81562421.cms">Indian spacetech startup Pixxel gets $7.3 million in funding as it announces a new product even before the launch of its first satellite</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/airtel-adds-3-times-more-subscribers-than-reliance-jio-vodafone-idea-turns-positive-for-the-first-time-in-15-months/articleshow/81562851.cms">Airtel adds 3 times more subscribers than Jio while Vodafone Idea gets net addition first time in 15 months</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/kishore-biyani-future-group-appeals-to-the-singapore-arbitrator-to-exclude-future-retail-from-the-fight-with-amazon/articleshow/81562016.cms">Ahead of Delhi High Court's decision, Future Group appeals to the Singapore arbitrator to exclude Future Retail from the fight with Amazon</a>

Amazon, Wipro Consumer and Ascent Capital invest in beauty brand MyGlamm

<ul><li><keyword id="6530028" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="kris-gopalakrishnan">Kris Gopalakrishnan</keyword>, co-founder of Infosys and Chairman of Axilor Ventures is betting on India’s <keyword id="675306" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tech-startups">tech startups</keyword> to build on the opportunities during the coronavirus pandemic. </li><li>In an interaction with Sudhir Sethi of Chiratae Ventures, Gopalakrishnan said that Jio’s scoop of investments are just a reminder of India’s magnetic attraction for investments. </li><li>But the Indian venture and private equity capital has 95% to 96% traditionally been international capital and the need for domestic capital is now greater than ever. </li></ul>India has been hoping that the next <keyword id="6355629" type="DEFINITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="google">Google</keyword>, <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> or <keyword id="6354576" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="facebook">Facebook</keyword> will be born on its soil. But what makes a company Indian will be the ownership and that is where investors have been penny wise and the regulations less than conducive. This is the grouse of Kris Gopalakrishnan, one of the seven founders of $40 billion Infosys. “We have to create Indian VC (venture capital) firms. We have to create Indian funds that are billion dollars or ten billion dollars. The wealth is there, you know, whatever data we have shows that you know, maybe two trillion to three trillion dollars of wealth is there in private hands in India. So some of that has to actually flow into this ecosystem,” Gopalakrishnan said. “You can directly invest, you can invest through funds you can invest fund of fund, in other various mechanisms that are available,” he added. In an conversation with Sudhir Sethi of Chiratae Ventures ⁠— which has placed bets on unicorns like FirstCry, Lenskart etc.-- Gopalakrishnan, who now runs the 6-year old Axilor Ventures, cited the slew of investments into Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio showed that foreign investors are looking beyond the COVID-19 crisis and the opportunities in India. <div type="image" title="BI212" msid="76243570" hostid="261"></div> “Google is looking at Vodafone, Microsoft is also looking at Jio. So this is enforcing the story that if you look beyond covid all the things that I talked about India being an attractive destination for talent innovation and markets, all of them are true and that nothing has changed during business we have just taken a temporary break,” said Gopalakrishnan, who invests ₹20 crore in startups every year and has over 100 companies in Axilor’s portfolio. The need for India and India’s needs The Indian government has used the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/pm-narendra-modi-announces-a-20-lakh-crore-financial-stimulus-for-a-self-reliant-india/articleshow/75700217.cms">stimulus</a> meant to fight COVID-19 crash as an opportunity to revive the ‘Make in India’ programme, which aims to boost local manufacturing. The Modi government hopes that companies that are now looking to move facilities out of China ⁠— partly due to the pandemic and partly due to escalating tensions between US and China ⁠— will want to move to India. The government may be hoping for too much too soon. “The changes in the physical space take more time than changes in the digital space,” Gopalakrishnan said, highlighting that immediate opportunities are in the tech sector⁠— from telecom giants like Jio, Vodafone, and Airtel to emerging startups. The space for more unicorns Gopalakrishnan believes that gives Indian startups have an edge over the bigger and older firms and that makes them attractive to both investors and the government. “In my discussions with the government offic ials, they said startups responded faster than established companies because they had less bureaucracy and less worries about you know, what impact it would have on the business etc,” he said, adding that India “will have a large number of unicorns,” and “significant investments coming into India to take advantage of the opportunity.” And some of this money should flow into research and development as well. "..you know less than 0.1% of private investment is going into R&amp;D in India,” he added. Waiting for foreign capital is a loss of opportunity Reliance Jio attracted six new investors in the last six weeks, and all of them were foreign. “Now the Indian venture and private equity capital has 95% to 96% traditionally been international capital… whereas in other countries it is more than fifty percent namely China and technically if you take Europe and the US it's all domestic capital anyway,” Sethi said. Gopalakrishnan couldn't agree more. “We need some of these companies to be owned by Indians, right so that you know, it's not just about ownership it's about the wealth creation effect of this right that's why I would encourage all Indian funds, family offices to look at a portion of their investable wealth to go to these class of assets, these startups,” he chimed in. Will the COVID-19 crisis help the cause or stall it? Kris Gopalakrishnan, one of the co-founders of India’s largest IT company Infosys, had become the CEO of the company in 2007, when it all looked rosy. Within a year of his tenure, he was hit with the financial crisis of 2008. But Gopalakrishnan and Infosys sailed through the crisis and emerged stronger. And now, when India is in the midst of another global crisis – the coronavirus pandemic – Gopalakrishnan believes it's just a temporary break from all the great things Indian companies have set out to achieve. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/transportation/news/evs-in-india-may-not-reduce-oil-dependency-or-low-carbon-emissions-hydrogen-fuel-may-be-better-answer/articleshow/76227728.cms">Oil dependency and carbon emissions — EVs may not be India’s answer to reducing either, say experts</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/mubadala-to-buy-1-85-pc-stake-in-jio-platforms-for-rs-9093-6-cr/articleshow/76205654.cms">Reliance Industries market value crosses ₹10 lakh crore thanks to Jio's deal with Mubadala</a>

Infosys co-founder explains how the next Google, Facebook or Amazon can be born out of India

<ul><li>PE firm <keyword id="6460966" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="kedaara-capital">Kedaara Capital</keyword> is in talks to invest in Lenskart, say reports, at a valuation of $1 billion.</li><li>Softbank too was in talks to fund the company.</li><li>Lenskart has over 500 stores in India.</li></ul>Eyewear retailer Lenskart is all set to turn into a unicorn, nine years after it was founded. Homegrown PE firm <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/kedaara-eyes-lenskart-stake-at-1b-valuation/articleshow/70941194.cms">Kedaara</a> Capital is in talks to invest in Lenskart, says an ET report. The latest funding would take Lenskart’s valuation up to $1 billion. The report also says that Kedaara’s <keyword id="6355120" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="investment">investment</keyword> could be a secondary deal as Premji Invest (Azim Premji’s investment arm) and Chiratae Ventures will sell a part of their shares. Earlier too, there were also <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/softbank-may-lead-funding-in-lenskart-back-dailyhunt/articleshow/70836332.cms">reports</a> of Japanese investment firm Softbank showing interest in the eyewear retailer and invest as much as $400 million. Scripting a turnaround story Lenskart is often the centre of many memes for its multiple offers messages it sends to customers, with offers and discounts. In May, it opened its 500th store in the country. However, it hasn’t had a smooth ride. Lenskart had rapidly expanded with multiple stores. However, these huge investments didn’t pay off, leaving it with mounting losses. In 2015-16, Lenskart’s losses were at ₹113 crore. The very next year, they doubled to be ₹262.87 crore. After this, the company took an active step to turn things around. Lenskart turned its focus to Tier 2 and 3 cities. As a result, its revenues jumped by 70% to ₹118.04 crore in 2018, while cutting its losses by 55% losses. It’s own brand – John Jacobs – which seems to have done well for the company will touch ₹500 crore in revenue by 2021, say <a href="https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/john-jacobs-to-clock-500-cr-revenue-by-march-2021/article25985375.ece">reports.</a> In February 2019, Lenskart announced YouTuber Bhuvan Bam as its brand ambassador along with Bollywood actor Katrina Kaif.

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Lenskart raises $220 million to launch in Middle East, Southeast Asia

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Amazon, Wipro Consumer and Ascent Capital invest in beauty brand MyGlamm

Sanchita Dash

Infosys co-founder explains how the next Google, Facebook or Amazon can be born out of India

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Sanchita

9 years later, Lenskart set to be a unicorn having fought off losses and welcomed investors

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