Eyewear specialist Lenskart wants to promote startups which can work on new technologies and products in its sphere and has allocated a corpus fund of $3 million (approximately Rs 20 crore) for this purpose.
The tech-startup has to work on a new product or technology that can ultimately go towards helping the spectacles business, in one way or another. The best way Lenskart can carry this message home is by referring to 2 of its investments/tie-ups in this space. One is the investment Lenskart has made in an Israeli company 6over6. By making an investment of $1 million in this company, Lenskart has been able to integrate this 6over6 feature in its smartphone app, where customers can determine their spectacles’ power.
In the other case, a US-based firm Ditto was chosen and again, Lenskart invested an identical $1 million and as a result, they have been able to add a provision on their site in which customers can click an image and try out the different frames to know how it will look. This has replaced the customers physically visiting the optician to try on the frames and taking a look at the mirror.
These are the kinds of innovative technologies and devices that Lenskart is looking for from Indian (or overseas) and if it finds it interesting it can pitch in with its investment out of this fund separately set aside.
Yet another deal that Lenskart has entered into, is with another US company ThinOptics. This company has come up with unique reading glasses that can be attached to a mobile phone or a keychain. This helps people who usually tend to forget their reading glasses. This product has been a hit with its customers and the company claims to have sole over 10,000 pieces of it already. Lenskart’s investment in ThinOptics is $500,000.
In terms of the investors in Lenskart, apart from Ratan Tata, IDG Ventures, Unilazer Ventures, TPG Growth, TR Capital, IFC and Premji Invest have all invested in it. Lenskart runs offline stores also, 410 of them, besides its strong online presence.