Lenskart: Transforming How India Sees

Eyewear used to be boring.

Overpriced, inconvenient, and mostly treated like a medical need - never a product you’d get excited about.

But that was before Peyush Bansal decided to flip the script.

He wasn’t even trying to build an eyewear empire.

Back in the day, he was tinkering with a student classified site called SearchMyCampus from his parents' basement.

Then he stumbled onto a massive gap - 700 million Indians needed glasses, and most couldn’t afford them. That changed everything.

In 2010, Lenskart was born. The idea was simple: cut out middlemen, build in-house, bring costs down, and make eyewear cool.

It wasn’t just a business opportunity but more like a mission.

We’re talking about 15 million blind people - half the global total.

Another 150 million+ people who need reading glasses but don’t have access.

What’s even worse? 75% of these cases are preventable.

And guess how many optometrists India has? Just 8,000. We need 40,000.

Lenskart stepped into this broken system and started stitching it back together.

The scale-up has been wild.

From just 30 orders a day to over 30,000 now, it’s grown into a giant with 40 million+ customers across India, Singapore, and Dubai.

It runs more than 1,500 stores in 175 cities.

And it’s building a ₹1,500 crore manufacturing hub in Telangana - one of the biggest of its kind in Asia.

This isn’t your typical online-first brand anymore, but a full-stack, omnichannel beast.

Lenskart controls the entire value chain - design, production, and retail.

That means better margins, better quality, and faster innovation.

While others import stock, Lenskart does it on its own.

Tech is another edge: 3D virtual try-ons, AI-powered styling, and smooth online-to-offline transitions.

It’s not just a matter of convenience but also the customer experience.

Branding? Aggressive. Marketing? Everywhere. Customer service? Surprisingly solid.

As a result, operating revenue for FY25 hit ₹6,653 crore, up 22.6% from last year.

And PAT stood at ₹297 crore, swinging from a ₹10 crore loss in the previous year.

They’ve already raised $1.08 billion in funding, with the latest valuation at $6.1 billion (June 2025).

On top of that, Lenskart is now eyeing an IPO in late 2025, targeting a $8-9 billion valuation.

The company plans to raise ₹2,150 crore in fresh capital, while existing investors will offload 132.28 million shares through an OFS. The competition’s trying to catch up. Titan Eye+, Vision Express,

Specsmakers - they’re in the mix.

But most still rely heavily on imports.

Lenskart doesn’t. It controls the supply chain. Which means faster launches, tighter margins, and a more defensible moat.

Eyewear used to be a slow-moving sector. You went to a shop, picked from frames, waited a week, and paid a premium.

Lenskart decided to tear up that script.

Now, getting glasses can be as convenient as ordering food.

It wasn’t just about vision but about reimagining an entire category - how it’s made, how it’s sold, and how it fits into people’s lives.

Bansal didn’t set out to build an eyewear empire.

He built Lenskart to solve a simple problem.

In doing that, he built a brand, fixed access, and changed how India looks at eyewear - literally and otherwise.

Short Description:

Take a peek at how Lenskart turned clear sight into a billion-dollar success.

Sources:

Vision Fund
Maharashtra Seva Samiti Organization
Get Set Specs
Lenskart
The New Indian Express
Marketing Maverick
Tracxn
The Economic Times
Livemint