Lenskart: ET Startup Awards 2024 | Startup of the Year: You don’t need glasses to see what Lenskart has done in this space

Omnichannel eyewear retailer Lenskart took the award for Startup of the year 2024 Outperforming the competition thanks to a solid track record revenue growth and create a new business model in a largely unorganized sector.

The ten-member jury chose Lenskart, which is currently valued at $5 billion, over publicly listed general insurer Go Digit in a closely contested round in which the relative merits of both companies were discussed in detail.

Zepto, a major fast-trading company also valued at $5 billion, drew a lot of interest from the jury members for the speed with which it has grown over the past year, indicating the rapid expansion of the growing sector.

“For us at Lenskart it is still day one,” said Peyush Bansal, CEO of Lenscart Business Card he told ET upon being informed of the jury’s decision to award the SOTY prize to his company.

“Our purpose to transform the way people see, coupled with a unique team and culture, is the backbone of Lenskart. 2.5 billion people around the world, including 500 million people in India, need vision correction but do not have access to a good quality pair of glasses,” he said.

After a first round of discussions, the jury narrowed down the list to two companies: Lenskart and Go Digit. In the end, the vote was unanimous in favour of the company run by Bansal.

Jury member Sumer Juneja, managing partner of Soft bankrecused himself from voting in this category because the Japanese company is an investor in Lenskart and Juneja also sits on its board of directors.

Other judges highlighted the Gurugram-based company’s “massive” revenue growth over the past two years.

“It’s remarkable that (Lenskart) has been able to do this in such a disorganised market, something no other new-age company has been able to do, leaving traditional companies behind,” one person said.

The eyewear retail industry is estimated to be worth between Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000 crore.

Praising the process followed by the jury at The Economic Times Startup Awards (ETSA), jury member Ritesh Arora, CEO, Browserstack, said, “For me, the Startup of the Year award winner Lenskart stood out. The growth they have shown while disrupting the entire market, creating a category and keeping the Tatas at bay.

In addition to its operational excellence, the jury also highlighted the strong (secondary) exits of over $600 million provided by Lenskart to its investors in the last year. In June, Temasek and US financial services major Fidelity jointly invested $200 million in the Peyush Bansal-led company through a secondary share sale at a valuation of $5 billion.

Calling the public listing a “rite of passage” for a startup, the judges highlighted Lenskart’s ambition to launch an IPO in the next two years, following in the footsteps of previous SOTY winners like Zomato and Freshworks.

Founded in 2010, Lenskart, which counts Premji Invest and Alpha Wave Global as investors, has raised nearly $2 billion in total, including secondary share sales. It has over 2,000 stores in India and another 500 in Southeast Asia.

In 2022, it acquired Japanese company Owndays to expand into Southeast Asia. In September 2023, its subsidiary Neso Brands invested $4 million in a “significant stake” in Paris-based omnichannel eyewear brand Le Petit Lunetier.

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Other contenders

Zepto

Zepto, through its dark stores, makes fast deliveries of products. It has become the busiest consumer internet startup in recent years. It is currently present in more than a dozen cities and has expanded to places like Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Panvel.

Meesho

Meesho is an e-commerce marketplace that specializes in selling low-priced products. The company sells clothing, accessories, footwear, home and kitchen items, and electronics.

Innovative

Innovaccer, a healthcare-focused software-as-a-service (SaaS) company, helps U.S. healthcare organizations digitize patient data records and unify previously unorganized data to help them deliver higher-quality care at a lower cost.

Electric Wave

Ola Electric is an electric scooter equipment manufacturer that started as a subsidiary of Bhavish Aggarwal’s ride-hailing company, ANI Technologies.

Go to Digit

Go Digit offers general insurance products such as vehicle and two-wheeler insurance, and provides fire and marine coverage to commercial establishments. It works with a large network of distributors and agents to sell policies.