Peyush Bansal inches toward billionaire tag with Lenskart IPO plans
If Lenskart’s shares jump by about 25% on debut, Peyush Bansal’s stake could cross the $1 billion mark-- potentially making him one of India’s newest startup billionaires.
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Peyush Bansal, founder and CEO of eyewear startup Lenskart, is poised for a major windfall as the company prepares for its much-anticipated IPO, expected early next month. Media reports suggest that the listing could value the company at around $9 billion, placing Bansal’s stake at nearly $800 million, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
If Lenskart’s shares jump by about 25% on debut, Bansal’s stake could cross the $1 billion mark-- potentially making him one of India’s newest startup billionaires.
The 41-year-old entrepreneur has often spoken about India’s urgent need for accessible eyewear solutions, once describing the country as “the myopia capital of the world.”
“If we can solve that, everything else — scale, profit, and rising market capitalization — will follow,” Bansal said in an earlier interview.
SoftBank, which owns about 15% of Lenskart, has called its investment an example of “patient capital” that can wait decades for compounding growth.
While Lenskart still relies on China for over one-third of its purchases — including frames, molds, and raw materials — the company is ramping up domestic manufacturing with a new 50-acre facility in Hyderabad, expected to be the world’s largest eyewear plant, capable of producing hundreds of thousands of glasses daily.
A substantial portion of the IPO proceeds will go toward brand marketing and business expansion. The company has earmarked Rs 320 crore for brand-building, Rs 591 crore for lease payments of company-owned stores, Rs 272 crore for new store openings, and Rs 213 crore for technology and cloud infrastructure.
Lenskart has also drawn up a four-year marketing roadmap, with spends of Rs 24 crore in FY26, followed by Rs 98 crore each year through FY27–FY29. The company spent Rs 448 crore in FY25, a 27% rise from the previous year.
Headquartered in Gurugram, Lenskart operates 2,067 stores in India, along with 267 in Japan, 251 across Southeast Asia, and 39 in the Middle East, as of March 31, 2025.
