TR Capital, Steadview make second investment in Lenskart

TR Capital and Hong Kong-based hedge fund Steadview Capital have made the second transaction in Lenskart Solutions in the last five months.

The transaction, estimated at $70-75 million, was also participated by late-stage technology-focused investment firm Epiq Capital as the second new investor entering the company’s cap table. The selling stakeholders in the latest secondary transactions are TPG Growth, Ronnie Screwvala-led Unilazer Ventures and IDG Ventures India, with the deal believed to be valuing Lenskart at about Rs 3,400 crore.

“The company has turned profitable, and that certainly opens up the arena for a lot of growthstage public market investors. It’s a promising investment for the likes of TR Capital and Steadview Capital, because it shows that the investment can grow multi-fold from here on, and even at this valuation,” Bansal said.

While Bansal declined to comment on the terms of the transaction, TR Capital is believed to have shelled out an estimated $40 million this time around. However the investor’s stake post the closure of the round has not been disclosed yet. It had earlier owned a little over 1% of the company.

Among the selling shareholders, IDG Ventures has been consistently paring down its stake in Lenskart. The VC firm, according to sources, has already earned about $50 million, or 5X its investment in the company thus far, and continues to hold a position in the company, in which it has invested through two of its funds.

The total transactions in Lenskart has reached to five, which also counts International Finance Corp (IFC), the private sector investment arm of the World Bank, and Zurich-based asset management company Adveq as investors.

The last secondary deal, which was first reported by ET in its edition dated March 2 earlier this year, saw TR Capital and Premji-Invest, the personal investment arm of Wipro Chairman Azim Premji, up their stakes in the company, having agreed to buy shares from IDG Ventures India, an early investor in Lenskart and PE investor TPG Growth.