Lenskart recovers from tepid open to close first day slightly above IPO price

Lenskart shares recovered after a mushy begin to end barely above the provide worth on Monday, following the Indian eyewear retailer’s ₹72.8 billion ($821 million) IPO that bought out inside hours however stirred debate over its valuation.

The inventory opened at ₹395, beneath the IPO worth of ₹402, and fell as a lot as 11% to ₹356.10 through the session earlier than recovering to shut at ₹404.55. The closing worth valued Lenskart at about ₹702 billion (round $8 billion). The IPO was closely oversubscribed with bids coming in at about 28 instances the shares obtainable, led primarily by institutional traders.

Lenskart’s pitch to traders is that its vertically built-in mannequin — the place it controls every part from manufacturing to retail shops — can outpace legacy optical chains and on-line rivals. However the 15-year-old firm faces competitors throughout worth factors from Titan Eye+ to new direct-to-consumer gamers, elevating questions on how rapidly it may scale profitably in India and abroad.

The corporate reported a revenue within the fiscal yr 2025 (which led to March), with income rising 23% year-over-year to ₹66.53 billion (about $750 million). Internet revenue got here in at ₹2.97 billion (round $33 million), boosted by a ₹1.67 billion (about $19 million) accounting acquire (not precise money) linked to its acquisition of Owndays. Excluding that one-time merchandise, the corporate’s core revenue stood at ₹1.30 billion, or roughly $15 million.

The corporate had sought a valuation of ₹700 billion — round $7.9 billion — on the prime finish of the IPO worth vary, putting it among the many most richly valued of India’s new-age shopper manufacturers, alongside corporations comparable to Honasa and BlueStone. The valuation represents a greater than 60% soar from the roughly $5 billion level at which Lenskart shares traded fingers in a secondary share sale final June involving late-stage backers Constancy and Temasek. Constancy later marked up Lenskart’s valuation by 12% to $5.6 billion in November final yr.

The proposed valuation implied about 230 instances Lenskart’s core internet revenue and roughly 10 instances its income, fueling debate amongst retail traders and on social media. DSP Asset Managers, which invested within the firm forward of the itemizing, defended the deal the valuation, regardless of acknowledging it was “costly,” saying in a publish responding to the criticism that the enterprise stays “sturdy and scalable.”

Chief Government Peyush Bansal, who has gained wider public recognition as a choose on Shark Tank India, mentioned the problem was “pretty priced,” citing suggestions from institutional traders.

“We didn’t construct Lenskart to succeed in a valuation,” he mentioned on the IPO ceremony in Mumbai. “We did it to succeed in folks, from Delhi to the smallest cities of India.”

Lenskart plans to make use of the proceeds to help growth, together with opening new shops and strengthening its provide chain and retail infrastructure. The corporate additionally intends to put money into expertise and advertising, and mentioned a portion of the funds could also be put aside for acquisitions and different basic company functions.

Present traders together with SoftBank, Schroders Capital, Premji Make investments, Kedaara Capital and Alpha Wave Ventures bought shares within the IPO. Co-founders Peyush and Nehal Bansal, Amit Chaudhary and Sumeet Kapahi additionally bought a portion of their holdings.

Lenskart’s itemizing comes at a time when a number of Indian startups are transferring towards public markets as late-stage enterprise funding tightens and home investor urge for food will increase. Fintech corporations Groww and Pine Labs, edtech platform PhysicsWallah, SaaS supplier Capillary Applied sciences, and shopper model BoAt are among the many startups making ready for his or her IPOs in India.