[Funding alert] Lenskart Raises $25 mn From Epiq Capital

Softbank-backed unicorn Lenskart, a Multi-channel eyewear brand, has raised $25 million in its ongoing Series I funding round from existing investor Epiq Capital.

Last week, the company received $100 million after allocating approximately 3.6 million Series I CCPS to Alpha Wave Ventures.

The startup had issued 9,10,412 Series I CCPS to Epic Capital to raise $25 million (INR 190 crore). The investment is likely to happen in three phases in the coming weeks.

This funding round also took place nine months after it raised $315 million at a valuation of $2.5 billion.

This ongoing fund appears to be part of a larger $200 million to $250 million round that the startup intends to raise as a pre-IPO round.

The Delhi-based Lenskart was founded in 2010 by Peyush Bansal, Amit Chaudhury, and Sumeet Kapahi, It claims to reach up to 1,00,000 customers per month.

The startup claims to serve over 7 million customers annually through its omnichannel shopping experience, which is spread across 175 cities across the country through online, mobile applications and over 750 omnichannel stores.

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Last year, Lenskart launched a ‘Vision Fund’ where it would invest $2 million in select startups that are synergistic for the eyewear, eyecare and omnichannel retail sectors.

In July 2021, the company had raised $315 million from Temasek, Falcon Edge, Bay Capital, KKR, Chiratae Ventures among others.

After raising INR 1,645 Cr ($231 Mn) from SoftBank Vision Fund II and Lightbulb Ltd as part of its Series G funding round, the startup achieved unicorn status in 2020.

About Lenskart

Lenskart’s mission is to give India a vision. Lenskart.com is India’s fastest growing eyewear company and the largest eyewear company online. Lenskart’s products range from prescription eyewear to branded contact lenses, and sunglasses, all equipped with the customers’​ eye power.

Lenskart is backed by IDG Ventures, Unilazer Ventures, and TPG Capital. With a growing chain of offline stores in all cities in India and its unique Home Eye Check-up service which takes expert optometrists to customers' homes/offices for an eye test, Lenskart has done what no one could till now.