New Delhi
October 31, 2011
New Delhi, October 31, 2011: Valyoo Technologies Pvt Ltd, which runs the leading eyewear e-commerce site Lenskart.com, has raised $4 million in the first round of funding from IDG Ventures India. Lenskart.com is India’s first and only online portal selling prescription eyewear. Valyoo Technologies has also successfully launched Watchkart.com and Bagskart.com in the last few months. IDG Ventures India is a $150 million leading technology venture capital fund in India. As part of the investment, TC Meenakshisundaram and Venkatesh Peddi have joined Valyoo’s Board of Directors as nominees of IDG Ventures India.
Lenskart.com is the clear leader in selling eyewear online in India, with product range across prescription eyewear, branded contact lenses and sunglasses, all equipped with the customers’ eye power. Watchkart.com and Bagskart.com are demonstrating fast traction with the potential of becoming leaders in their categories.
Already delivering to 450 cities across India, Valyoo will use the funds for scaling up product range, marketing activities and building superior customer centric services through phone and on-line chat. “A huge range with all sizes and colors and the ability to get them at a standard price next day at the customer’s doorstep is what we are aiming to achieve. We strongly believe in an approach of educating the customers and helping them choose the right product online. Also, offline space is extremely unorganized in our product categories, where the selling price of a product is determined by the financial status of the buyer, we want to bridge this gap and create disintermediation in the market,” says 27-year-old Peyush Bansal, Founder and CEO, Lenskart.com. The company is in the process of setting up a training facility for customer executives.
Commenting on this new investment TC Meenakshisundaram, Founder and Managing Director, IDG Ventures India Advisors, said: “IDG Ventures India helps entrepreneurs build category-leading companies in India and globally. We believe Valyoo’s focus on creating category leaders in product segments that offer disintermediation opportunities by leveraging supply chain inefficiencies and bring value to the customers is a big differentiator. Valyoo’s young and passionate team with deep domain knowledge and strong customer focus will give it an edge to succeed in the crowded e-commerce sector.”
One-third of Indian population needs vision correction and only 25% of them use eyeglasses today. With unmatched variety and prices, which will not be available in the neighbourhood eyewear retailers, LensKart makes it possible for the consumers to acquire high quality eyewear with prescription lenses starting from Rs 250. With an average of 72-hour free-home-delivery time and a 14-day no-questions-asked return policy, the customer can just click and order their perfect pair of eyewear, contacts, watches and bags without worry.
Lenskart.com was started in November 2010 and has been growing revenues exponentially. “We started with a modest four-member team. Today, we have about 50 employees. With the investment from IDG Ventures India, we hope to grow our monthly revenue many-fold in the next six months,” said the young entrepreneur Mr. Bansal. The company is already selling several branded eyewear and watches such as Timex, Citizen, Guess, FCUK, Fossil, Being Human and is in active discussion to engage with many other leading brands. Its range of bags includes varied styles like ladies’ handbags, clutches, laptop bags, men’s wallets, belts etc.
About IDG Ventures India (www.idgvcindia.com)
IDG Ventures India is a $150 million leading technology venture capital fund in India. The fund is part of IDG Ventures, a global network of technology venture funds with over $4.5 billion under management with over 220 investee companies and 10 offices across Asia and North America. By combining the IDG platform — an unparalleled combination of global publishing, market research (IDC), and conferences and exhibition resources — with years of hands-on experience in early-stage company building, IDG Ventures India helps its investee companies understand their markets better and achieve leadership position ahead of competition. Leading technology companies that IDG Ventures has invested in include Baidu, Ctrip, Sohu, Tencent and VinaGame in Asia and Netscape, BabyCenter, F5 Networks, Service Metrics and VA Linux in North America. The IDG Ventures India portfolio companies are Agile FT, Apalya, Aujas Networks, ConnectM, eShakti, iCreate, iProf, iViZ, Kreeda Games, Manthan Systems, Myntra, Ozone Media, Perfint, Sourcebits, Vserv and 3DSoC.
For IDG Ventures India queries, please contact:
Venkatesh Peddi Email: Venkatesh_peddi@idgvcindia.com
About Valyoo Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (www.valyoo.in):
Lenskart.com is the best site for your sight. It is India’s leading online retailer of Contact Lenses, eyewear and sunglasses. It offer one of the biggest selection of contact lenses by the world’s leading manufacturers like Johnson & Johnson, Ciba Vision, Bausch & Lomb, Cooper Vision etc. The services are fast and efficient and your payment is securely processed by the CCAvenue Gateway.
For Valyoo Technologies, please contact:
Peyush Bansal
Email: peyushb@valyoo.in