Indian startup Lenskart plans to go public in the next three years, CEO and founder Peyush Bansal told CNBC on Friday.
The company that sells glasses online and through retail stores announced this week that it has received US$220 million in funding, led by Singaporean national investors Temasek and Falcon Edge Capital. Earlier this year, Lenskart raised $95 million from the global investment company KKR. It also owns SoftBank as one of its investors.
“I think we will conduct an IPO within the next 24 to 36 months at the latest,” Bansal said on CNBC’s “Asian Signpost” program.
“We still hope to expand and develop our business in India and Southeast Asia. Then we will prepare for an IPO,” he said, adding that it plans to increase revenue to more than US$500 million.
Lenskart will expand to Singapore in 2019. Bansal said on Friday that it is confident that the startup can Become Singapore’s best participant in the next 12 to 18 months.
The company is reportedly worth the US $ 2.5 billion and plans to use the newly raised funds to expand its business in India and expand its business in Southeast Asia and the Middle East in the next three to four years.
Part of the funds will also be used to invest in artificial intelligence and other technologies.
“There’s a huge demand for high-quality, affordable eyewear,” Bansal said about the Indian market. He claimed consumers buy on average four pairs of eyewear from Lenskart every two years, compared to a pair of eyewear every two-and-a-half years from other companies.
The biggest hurdle for Lenskart is creating a supply chain, according to Bansal. He explained that the company is in the process of building a manufacturing plant in India from which, it plans to ship about 150,000 prescription glasses a day.
A lot of this capital actually goes in long-term investment in technology and building the supply chain infrastructure,” he said. Indian start-ups are entering what some investors have described as the “beginning of a new era,” where the prominent names are going public.
Food delivery firm Zomato made its stock market debut on Friday, and its shares jumped over 70% at the open.
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