India-based direct-to-consumer eyewear vendor Lenskart has set aside $20m for a corporate venture capital vehicle dubbed Lenskart Vision Fund.
Lenskart runs an online platform which partners more than 750 stores and which processes the sale of some 8 million pairs of glasses a year. It also provides on-demand eye exams at customers’ homes and workplaces.
The vehicle will target entrepreneurs working on technologies and products related to vision care, including glasses and contact lenses as well as the retail sector in general.
Peyush Bansal, Lenskart’s founder and CEO, said: “As a company, we would like to collaborate with startups in relevant areas, and co-create value…Often startups with great potential do not have access to resources that will help them commercialise the idea efficiently.
“Lenskart can give them access to these resources – physical retail outlets, online platforms, technology stack, production facilities, supply chain [and] warehousing. Startups can thus test their concepts, and commercialise their innovations with us a lot faster.”
