Kedaara Capital bets on Lenskart; partial exits for PremjiInvest, Chiratae: Report

Delhi headquartered omnichannel eyewear retailer Lenskart Solutions (earlier known as Valyoo Technologies) may be headed into the unicorn club following an investment from private equity firm Kedaara Capital. The Mumbai-based firm is in talks to acquire a stake in Lenskart through a secondary transaction that is likely to value it at $1 billion, according to a media report.

Lenskart’s existing investors PremjiInvest and Chiratae Ventures (earlier known as IDG Ventures India) are expected to sell part of their stakes via the secondary transaction, The Economic Times reported, citing sources. 

The deal would be Kedaara’s first bet on the domestic consumer internet sector. Kedaara is a sector-agnostic, mid-sized private equity firm that is currently investing from a $750 million fund.

Kedaara’s investment in Lenskart was first reported by VCCircle. 

According to data compiled by financial data and research provider VCCEdge, citing the VCCircle report, Lenskart is raising $15 million from Kedaara Capital Fund II LP and others. As part of the transaction, PI Opportunities Fund II, an investing entity of PremjiInvest, is selling 1.95% of its stake to Kedaara. 

VCCircle and VCCEdge are owned by Mosaic Media Ventures, the company that owns and publishes TechCircle.

Lenskart had last raised an undisclosed sum from TR Capital, Epiq Capital, Steadview Capital and PremjiInvest in March last year. The company has raised a total of $ 160 million so far, according to VCCEdge.

According to multiple media reports, Lenskart has also been in talks with Softbank Vision Fund, Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group’s investment arm, to raise $350-400 million as primary capital. 

Founded by Peyush Bansal and Amit Chaudhary in 2010, Lenskart reported an 84% growth in revenues at Rs 292.3 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2018. The company cut its consolidated net losses by more than half to Rs 118.1 crore.