ESIP Lenskart

completed

Lenskart Solutions Private Limited (“Lenskart” or the “Company”), based in Delhi, India, was established in 2008 and is currently engaged in the assembly, wholesale distribution and supply of affordable eyewear products, such as eyeglasses and contact lenses, primarily for prescriptive purposes. It is also setting up a facility for manufacturing prescription lenses through fully automated machines. The proposed investment (“Project”) consists of up to US$25 million in equity for a minority stake in Lenskart in order to finance the expansion of the Company’s wholesale business for distribution and supply of eyewear products in India and for its prescription lens manufacturing facility. India continues to be an underserved market for quality healthcare products and is a large market for eye ailments. An estimated 350 million people do not have access to prescription eyewear despite having a medical need, due to lack of diagnosis, poor access or affordability. The Company has provided quality eyewear products at affordable prices to over 600,000 people in FY15 and this number is projected to increase to more than 5 million by FY21, supported by the expansion as part of this project. The Company is addressing issues of accessibility, affordability and awareness by supplying prescription eyeglasses and contact lenses on a wholesale basis to several retail partners, who make these products available for purchase online as well as numerous offline locations such as stores and customers’ homes. Customers can also get eye tests by the optometrists available at these locations. The Company’s partners also organize eye test camps in rural as well as urban areas to create awareness on the need for vision correction.The Company’s partner franchisees are micro-entrepreneurs and, as Lenskart grows, it is creating capabilities across numerous first-time entrepreneurs in India’s Tier 2/ 3 cities. As of December 2015, it has already partnered with more than 90 franchisees in over 50 cities, of which more than 45 are in Tier 2/3 cities and 15 are in the Low Income States of India.In addition, the Company’s products are made available through more than 100 home eye checkup partners conducting more than 300 checkup appointments everyday across the country. This helps expand the market to customers who may be in need of vision correction eyewear but are not aware of the particular specifications of prescription eyewear that will help them.The Company is setting up a centralized processing, manufacturing and assembly facility for eyewear products in India.The Company is focused on leveraging technology as it scales rapidly, applying robotic and mechanized assembly and manufacturing capabilities and monitoring processes at every step of the value chain to drive product quality, process efficiency and low cost production and distribution.