Lenskart IPO: What Investors Should Know Before Its Listing

Eyewear retailer Lenskart Solutions Ltd, which started as Valyoo Technologies Private Limited in 2008, is preparing for its IPO. The company has filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) and but it is yet to announce a date for going public. Here, let’s break down everything you need to know about Lenskart, with all the numbers, financials, key metrics, strengths, risks, and more.

From Local Startup to Global Eyewear Player

Lenskart is an eyewear company. It handles designing and making frames and lenses, and also sells them, both in its own stores and online. The company started in India and now operates across 14 countries, including parts of Southeast Asia, Japan, and the Middle East.

By the end of FY25, Lenskart had 2,067 stores and 9.94 million customers in India and a total of 2,723 stores across countries. In total, it sold 27.2 million pieces of eyewear in FY25. In terms of scale, it’s among just a few global retail models that bring in more than ₹4,300 crore (about $500 million) from prescription eyeglasses. Lenskart’s glasses range between ₹399 and ₹41,199 in India, and from $48.41 to $670.06 in other countries.

IPO Objective: Where Lenskart Will Utilise IPO Funds?

The company’s IPO includes both the fresh issue (the money that the company receives to utilize for its plans) and the offer for sale (money that goes to existing shareholders who sell their shares via the IPO). Lenskart is raising up to ₹2,150 crore via the fresh issue along with an offer for sale of up to 13.22 crore shares via promoters and other private investors.

Here’s how Lenskart plans to use the fresh issue funds:

• ₹272.62 crore to open new stores that are fully owned and operated by Lenskart.
• ₹591.44 crore for store leases and rents.
• ₹213 crore for better technology and cloud infrastructure.
• ₹320 crore for advertising and promotions.
• Some funds are also kept aside for buying related businesses and for general business needs.

Financial Highlights

Revenue: Between FY23 and FY25, Lenskart’s revenue from operations jumped from ₹3,788 crore to ₹6,653 crore each year, growing more than 32.5% annually.

Profitability: Lenskart made a loss of ₹63.76 crore in FY23 and ₹10.15 crore in FY24, but turned profitable with ₹297.34 crore profit in FY25. Its profit margin for FY25 stood at 4.47%, which means after paying all expenses in FY25, Lenskart kept ₹4.47 as profit from every ₹100 in revenue.

The company also became much better at using the money invested in it. Its Return on Capital Employed (RoCE) improved from a negative (-0.48%) in FY23 to positive (13.84%) in FY25. This means that for every ₹100 invested in Lenskart, it made ₹13.84 profit in FY25.

Lenskart’s EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) has grown 93.4% annually in the last two years while its EPS (Earnings Per Share) was ₹1.77 in FY25. Additionally, Return on Net Worth of the company stood at 4.84%, meaning for every ₹100 invested by shareholders, the company earned ₹4.84 in profit.

What Makes Lenskart Stand Out?

• Cost Advantage: Lenskart pays 35-40% less for frames and lenses than most other eyewear sellers, meaning it can offer lower prices or earn higher profits.
• Owns the Whole Process: Lenskart designs, makes, brands, and sells its glasses. Its big facility in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan, is now 75% automated, helping produce more at lower cost.
• Repeat Customers and Loyalty: Nearly all new customers come back for more (98.16% reorder rate in FY23). Customers bought glasses from Lenskart more than twice as often as the India average.
• Efficient Stores: On average, every square foot in its Indian stores made ₹23,492.50 in revenue in FY25. This is better than any other large eyeglasses seller in India.
• Gold Membership: 6.77 million people in India are Lenskart Gold members. This loyalty program brought in ₹1,080.34 million in fees in FY25, up sharply from the previous years.
• Quick Store Payback: Of the new Lenskart-owned stores opened over two recent years, more than 80% became profitable and recovered their costs within about 10 months.
• Product Margins: Its profit margin per product went up from 63.88% in FY23 to 67.92% in FY25.

The Risks and What to Watch Out For

• History of Losses: While Lenskart is now profitable, it did lose money in the past two years. There is no guarantee profits will grow every year.
• Legal and Regulatory Issues: Lenskart faces tax disputes (₹19.22 crore in income tax, ₹13.7 crore in GST and Customs as of March 2025). There are also some pending legal cases, including an FIR filed against its top leaders in October 2024.
• Inventory Controls: An auditor pointed out that Lenskart’s inventory system in FY25 had no edit log (audit trail), making it hard to check for data tampering.
• Supply Risks: Lenskart’s raw materials made up almost a quarter (24.5%) of its total expenses. Most materials are bought immediately on the open market, so unexpected price increases or shortages could hurt profits.
• China Dependency: Lenskart buys a lot from China, both through its own joint venture and other suppliers. In FY25, over 42% of total purchases came directly from China. Any disruption there can impact business.

For complete details, check Lenskart’s IPO page here.

Key Insights: How Efficient is Lenskart?

• Customer Growth: Globally, people buying from Lenskart went from 7.7 million (FY23) to 12.41 million (FY25). In India, active customers grew by 23.33% in just one year.
• More Units Sold: Worldwide, glasses sales jumped from 15.95 million (FY23) to 27.2 million (FY25), showing that lots of new people are trying, and returning to, Lenskart.
• Store Payback: Most new Lenskart-owned stores earned back their investment in just over 10 months, a rare feat in retail.
• Gold Customers: Almost 1 million people became new Gold members in 2025 alone, showing strong loyalty.
• Highly Automated Operations: Its main factory is largely automated, helping Lenskart save on costs and deliver faster.

Industry Overview

• The eyewear market in India is growing fast. It’s set to swell from ₹78,800 crore in 2025 to ₹1,48,300 crore in 2030, growing at about 13.5% per year.
• Globally, Lenskart’s market (countries where Lenskart operates) is expected to expand to ₹3,60,100 crore by 2030.
• The Indian eyewear market needs more organized players. Organized retail, direct-to-customer brands, and digital platforms are growing fast and making up a bigger piece of the overall market. The biggest growth drivers are that more people need vision correction, organized branding is beating out small shops, and digital sales are surging.

Unique Strategy and Big Acquisitions

• Lenskart operates a unique, fully-integrated business: from making glasses to selling them directly to buyers.
• There are no direct listed competitors in India or globally with quite the same business model, making Lenskart hard to compare.
• Lenskart bought Owndays (92.27% stake) in FY23, a big international purchase to help it grow abroad.
• It also bought out its former top franchisee Dealskart to better control operations.

The Team Behind Lenskart

• Peyush Bansal (Chairman, Managing Director, CEO): Peyush has over 17 years of experience building and leading internet and retail businesses. After earning his engineering degree from McGill University, he worked at Microsoft in the US before founding his first business in India in 2007. He’s been the driving force behind Lenskart since 2010, with deep expertise in technology, e-commerce, and scaling retail across multiple continents.
• Neha Bansal (Executive Director, Global Head of Merchandising): Neha brings more than 15 years of experience spanning merchandising, finance, and corporate operations. A chartered accountant with a commerce background from Delhi University, she has helped shape Lenskart’s merchandising strategy right from its early years, making sure the products appeal to a wide range of customers.
• Amit Chaudhary (Executive Director): Amit, co-founder, has over 15 years of entrepreneurial and tech leadership experience. An engineer from Birla Institute of Technology, he plays a key role in Lenskart’s market expansion and strategic projects, leveraging a deep understanding of technology and business operations built from the ground up at Lenskart.
• Sumeet Kapahi (Global Head of Sourcing): Sumeet has more than 23 years in sales, supply chain management, and procurement, chiefly in luxury eyewear and technology supply chains. Before Lenskart, he worked with major names like Ray-Ban and Dell, developing strong networks with global suppliers, a big reason Lenskart gets its products faster and at lower costs.

The rest of the core team includes accomplished professionals in finance, technology, legal, and global retail, each with around 10-25 years of experience in their fields, coming from leading companies in relevant industries. Their combined knowledge ensures Lenskart operates with world-class standards across every aspect of the business.

What to Remember

Lenskart stands out because it makes and sells its own eyewear, keeps customers coming back through loyalty programs, and has turned itself around from making losses to being profitable and efficient. It does face some real risks, like legal issues, how it manages supplies (especially from China), and system controls. But with growing demand for organized eyewear, a surge in repeat customers, and steady revenue growth, it’s building a strong story for the long term.

This isn’t a recommendation to invest, just a simple breakdown of the facts so you can make up your own mind. Always do your own research and, if needed, speak to a qualified expert before investing.

IPOs to Look for:

Among new-age tech companies, there is a buzz of IPO, especially in the tech space, and there are a lot of big names that have already announced their public listing and are in the process of launching their respective IPOs. The list includes home service marketplace Urban Company, quick commerce platform Zepto, payment solution companies PhonePe and Pine Labs, proptech company OYO, D2C jewellery startup BlueStone Jewellery, D2C consumer electronics company boAt, and more. Check the complete list of upcoming IPOs here.

Disclaimer

Source: Lenskart Solutions Ltd's RHP. Investments in the securities market are subject to market risks. Read all the related documents carefully before investing. Please be informed that merely opening a trading and demat account will not guarantee investment in securities in the IPO. Investors are requested to do their own independent research and due diligence before investing in an IPO. Please read the SEBI-prescribed Combined Risk Disclosure Document prior to investing. This post is for general information and awareness purposes only and is nowhere to be considered as advice, recommendation, or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or subscribe for securities. INDstocks is acting as a distributor for non-broking products/services such as IPO, Mutual Fund, and Mutual Fund SIP. These are not exchange-traded products. All disputes with respect to the distribution activity would not have access to the Exchange investor redressal forum or the Arbitration mechanism. INDstocks Private Limited (formerly known as INDmoney Private Limited) does not provide any portfolio management services, nor is it an investment adviser. Logos above are the property of respective trademark owners, and by displaying them, INDstocks has no right, title, or interest in them. SEBI Stock Broking Registration No: INZ000305337, Trading and Clearing Member of NSE (90267, M70042) and BSE, BSE StarMF (6779), SEBI Depository Participant Reg. No. IN-DP-690-2022, Depository Participant ID: CDSL 12095500, Research Analyst Registration No. INH000018948 BSE RA Enlistment No. 6428.