By purchasing the majority of Owndays in Japan, Lenskart becomes the biggest Omnichannel retailer in Asia

30 Jun 2022 , 11:55 AM

All of the stock held by a joint venture between a fund connected to Mitsui & Co. and an investment firm connected to LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton will be purchased by Lenskart.

By expanding Owndays to 13 markets in Asia, including India, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Japan, omnichannel retailer Lenskart has become the region’s largest eyewear company.

Owndays’ co-founders, CEO Shuji Tanaka and COO Take Umiyama, will remain stockholders and head the management team while the brand continues to run autonomously, the firm said in a news release. The Japanese retailer’s current largest shareholders, including L Catterton Asia and Mitsui & Co., Principal Investment, will sell their shares.

The co-founder and group CEO of Lenskart, Peyush Bansal, stated that with OWNDAYS, “we come closer to democratizing eyewear. For more than five years, I’ve known Shuji-san and Take-san and have admired the innovative brand and user experience they created with OWNDAYS. We must collaborate with like-minded and complementary entrepreneurs in order to bring about a revolutionary transformation, such as the one the world needs in eyewear.”

Earlier in May, KKR, Softbank, Alpha Wave Global, and Temasek invested $100 million to Neso Brands, a roll-up subsidiary of eyewear retailer Lenskart. Currently valued at $4.3 billion, Lenskart was one of the first unicorns in the direct-to-consumer industry.

Lenkskart’s engineering team now consists of 300 individuals, with a goal of expanding to 500 individuals in FY23. Additionally, it has been investing in more extensive supply chain automation and integration, which will now be used by both brands to improve unit economics and consumer offer.