SBI MF Backs Lenskart with ₹100 Cr in Pre-IPO Investment Round

SBI Mutual Fund has invested ₹100 crore in IPO-bound eyewear brand Lenskart. The mutual fund purchased the shares from Lenskart cofounder and promoter Neha Bansal at ₹402 per share, which valued the omnichannel retailer at around ₹67,762 crore, the company said in a public announcement on Wednesday.

After the transaction, Bansal's stake in the eyewear firm would come down to 7.46% from 7.61% earlier. Bansal had earlier sold ₹90 crore worth of stock at the same valuation to Dmart promoter Radhakrishan Damani. The share sale does not form part of the IPO's Offer-for-Sale.

The eyewear platform has filed its red herring prospectus (RHP) and set a price band of ₹382–₹402 for an initial public offering (IPO) that will open to the public on October 31 (anchor bids October 30) and close on November 4.

The offering values the eyewear retailer at roughly ₹72,719 crore and is structured to raise about ₹7,278 crore in total, comprising a ₹2,150 crore fresh issue and an offer for sale (OFS) of 127.5 million shares by promoters and investors.

As a part of the OFS, promoters -- Peyush Bansal, Neha Bansal, Amit Chaudhary and Sumeet Kapahi; and investors -- SVF II Lightbulb (Cayman) Ltd, Schroders Capital Private Equity Asia Mauritius Ltd, PI Opportunities Fund – II, Macritchie Investments Pte. Ltd, Kedaara Capital Fund II LLP, and Alpha Wave Ventures LP -- would offload shares.

Lenskart proposes to utilise the proceeds from the IPO for various strategic initiatives, including capital expenditure for setting up new company-operated, company-owned (CoCo) stores in India; payments related to lease, rent, and license agreements for these CoCo stores; investments in technology and cloud infrastructure etc.

Lenskart Financials

The platform has maintained profitability in the first quarter of financial year 2025-26. The eyewear giant posted a net profit of ₹61.2 crore in Q1 FY26, moving away from a loss of ₹11 crore incurred in the same quarter previous year. The company attributed the profits to an uptick in its top line and improvement in margins.

Its operating revenue stood at ₹1,894.5 crore. This marked nearly 25% jump from ₹1,520.4 crore revenue recorded in the same quarter last fiscal year. The company’s sales of goods grew 27% (year-on-year) to ₹1,822.2 crore, while its revenue from sales of services increased 98% to ₹67.4 crore.

Including other income of ₹51.6 crore, Lenskart’s total revenue rose 24.5% to ₹1,946.1 crore in the same quarter. In FY25, the company reported a net profit of ₹297.3 crore, reversing a loss of ₹10.2 crore in the previous year. However, the company attributed the FY25 profit numbers to the one-time gain from the acquisition of Owndays Inc.

“The reported FY25 profit is significantly and artificially inflated. For valuation, the PAT margin must be normalized by excluding this one time gain, bringing it closer to a break-even or marginal profitability level, which is more representative of the core business’ underlying performance,” the company said in its RHP.

Lenskart’s operating revenue for FY25 rose 23% to ₹6,652.5 crore, up from ₹5,427.7 crore in FY24.