Lenskart invests in XR glasses start-up ahead of IPO
What's the story
Leading eyewear retailer Lenskart has announced its investment in Ajna Lens, a Mumbai-based deep-tech company, building artificial intelligence (AI)-powered extended reality (XR) glasses. The exact amount of money invested by Lenskart has not been disclosed yet. The Gurugram-based company said it will use its frame design and engineering expertise to create smart glasses.
CEO statement
Smart glasses category is growing rapidly: Peyush Bansal
Peyush Bansal, co-founder and CEO of Lenskart, said this investment is a major step in their Smart Glass journey. He added that the smart glasses category is growing rapidly and offers a great opportunity for product innovation. The move comes as Lenskart prepares to list on stock exchanges after converting into a public limited company on June 6.
IPO strategy
Lenskart plans $1B IPO, eyes $10B valuation
Lenskart is planning a $1 billion initial public offering (IPO) at a potential valuation of $10 billion. This would be double the valuation from its last funding round. In June last year, the SoftBank-backed company had closed a $200 million secondary round at a $5 billion valuation with investments from Singapore sovereign fund Temasek and US financial services giant Fidelity.