Lenskart Starts Negotiations With Bankers For $1 Billion IPO Pitch

Omnichannel eyewear retailer Lenskart is gearing up for its Initial Public Offering (IPO), following in the footsteps of emerging and established tech firms such as Zepto, OfBusiness, Pine Labs, Razorpay, boAt, CarDekho, and Captain Fresh, which are expected to go public in the near future

Lenskart has begun discussions with bankers for its IPO, with the company, led by Piyush Bansal, aiming to raise anywhere between $750 million and $1 billion.
The report further states that Lenskart is eyeing a valuation of $7-8 billion through its IPO and is likely to be listed on Indian stock markets by the end of FY 2025-26

Founded in 2010 by Piyush Bansal, Amit Chaudhary, and Sumit Kapahi, Lenskart is an omnichannel eyewear retailer. In addition to its presence in India, the company operates in the UAE, Singapore, and Japan.
The company has over 2,500 stores, of which nearly 2,000 are in India. It claims to have 20 million customers.

In FY 2024, the eyewear startup reduced its net loss by 84%, bringing it down to ₹10 crore from ₹64 crore the previous year. During the same period, its operating revenue grew by 43%, reaching ₹5,427.7 crore, compared to ₹3,788 crore in FY 2023.
Lenskart’s public listing plan comes amid a boom in IPOs from modern tech companies in India, with over 20 domestic startups planning to debut on Dalal Street in 2025.

While companies like AerisInfra, Ecom Express, and Smartworks have received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for their respective IPOs, companies like Ather Energy, BlueStone, and DevX have filed their Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) and are awaiting regulatory approval.

Other startups, such as Ola Consumer, audio product and smartwatch maker boAt, coworking space provider IndiQube, and B2B marketplace OfBusiness, are also planning bumper IPOs.

The IPO frenzy has led to a rise in the trend of “reverse flipping” in the domestic startup ecosystem, with fintech unicorn Razorpay, quick commerce unicorn Zepto, and fintech giant Pine Labs preparing to bring their operations back to India.

It’s worth noting that last year, 13 domestic startups went public, including foodtech giant Swiggy, fintech major MobiKwik, electric vehicle manufacturer Ola Electric, coworking startup Office, and insuretech leader GoDigit. Together, these startups raised a record ₹29,000 crore through their initial public offerings.