Peyush Bansal - How Did He Build Lenskart From Scratch?
👨‍💻StartupTalkers
When we think about fashion - items like clothes and footwear cross our minds. Fashion doesn't only stick to the clothes we wear, today specs are also a part of fashion and style statements. Spectacles have become a part of almost every individual.
In such times, when long working hours are unavoidable, and other stress levels cause many health problems, many people are deprived of vision correction. In India itself, about 550 million people need vision correction out of which only 170 million have them.
To provide better eyewear for every walk of age while keeping in view the quality and trend styles, Lenskart was founded. Peyush Bansal started the company in 2010 with a mission to deliver better eyewear and change the way people see through their eyes.
Peyush Bansal is regarded to be one of the most brilliant entrepreneurs in India. He started his journey from being a studious student to building a company at a global level. Peyush Bansal sparks inspiration for many of us.
Recently, he has gained a lot of popularity after becoming a judge on one of the most famous reality shows, Shark Tank India.
In this article, let's dig deep to learn more about Peyush Bansal's roller-coaster story of becoming an entrepreneur and how he started Lenskart from scratch.
Damini Bhandary
Peyush Bansal - Biography
| Entrepreneur | Peyush Bansal |
|---|---|
| Born | April 26, 1985 |
| Education | McGill University, Canada, IIM, Bangalore |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
| Known for | Co-founder and CEO of Lenskart |
| Net worth | $75.5 million (As of 2021) |
| Marital status | Married |
| Nationality | Indian |
Peyush Bansal - Early Life
Peyush Bansal - Career
Peyush Bansal - Investments
Peyush Bansal - Controversy
Peyush Bansal - Awards & Achievements
Peyush Bansal - Unknown Facts
Peyush Bansal - Quotes
Peyush Bansal - Early Life
Born on 26th April 1986 in Delhi, Peyush Bansal lived with his parents and two siblings. His father's name is Bal Kishan Bansal, and his mother's name is Kiran Bansal. He has one elder brother and a younger sister.
Peyush Bansal did his schooling at Don Bosco School (Greater Kailash-II, New Delhi). After finishing high school, he prepared for IIT but didn't get through. So, he went to Canada to study electrical engineering at McGill University.
Just like any person with dreams and goals, Peyush Bansal always wanted to be a businessman. In India, he studied at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, he holds a diploma in entrepreneurship.
Peyush has been lucky as his parents always supported him in his journey of becoming an entrepreneur. In 2011, he got married Nidhi Mittal and has a son.
Peyush Bansal - Career
After graduating in electrical engineering, Peyush Bansal bagged his first job at the tech giant- Microsoft, USA. He worked as a Program Manager for nearly one year but left the job in 2008 and came back to India.
Peyush was never interested in engineering, which is why he quit his job at Microsoft. After returning to India, he started to look for ideas to start his own company.
Despite not coming from a business background, Peyush came up with his first startup in 2007 called, SearchMycampus, while pursuing a degree in entrepreneurship from IIM, Bangalore.
SearchMycampus was an online portal to help students search for various issues related to jobs, housing, coaching, internships, transportation, books, etc. After the fair success of his first company, Peyush launched a couple of startups that ran quite well.
Along with his friends, Amit Chaudhary and Sumeet Kapahi he founded Lenskart in 2010. The idea came when Peyush came across the statistics of blind people in India, and only a small amount of people were wearing spectacles. Thus, he aimed to provide eyeglasses to a large number of people to improve their vision.
Peyush serves as the Chief Executive & People Officer at Lenskart. The company is headquartered in Faridabad, Delhi NCR. Initially, Lenskart dealt with selling only contact lenses but it slowly witnessed success and expanded its operation.
Today, Lenskart has over 1100 stores across different cities in India, offering more than 5000 eyewear styles. The online eyewear retailer entered the unicorn club in 2019.
Currently, the valuation of Lenskart is $4.5 billion.
Sarika Anand
Peyush Bansal - Investments
Peyush Bansal is a man of a wise and brilliant mind. He has made investments in various startups. Revamp Moto is his latest investment of their Pre-seed funding on June 1, 2022.
Some of the companies Peyush Bansal has invested in are:
| Date | Startup Name | Lead Investor | Funding Round | Money Raised |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 1, 2022 | Revamp Moto | - | Pre Seed Round | $1M |
| Mar 28, 2022 | INDmoney | - | Series D | $11M |
| Mar 21, 2022 | Leverage Edu | - | Series B | $22M |
| Mar 9, 2022 | Carragreen | - | Pre Seed Round | â‚ą5M |
| Jan 31, 2022 | Humpy Farms | - | Angel Round | â‚ą10M |
| Jan 23, 2022 | Smiles.ai | - | Series A | â‚ą1.7B |
| Jan 6, 2022 | Thinkerbell Labs | - | Seed Round | â‚ą10.5M |
| Dec 10, 2021 | Shiprocket | - | Series E | $185M |
| Aug 4, 2020 | inFeedo | - | Seed Round | $700K |
| Jan 19, 2016 | DailyObjects | No | Venture Round | $1.3M |
Muskaan Kapoor
Peyush Bansal - Controversy
In one of the episodes of the Indian reality show, 'Shark Tank India', Peyush Bansal was caught in a controversy. He passed down some comments related to CA, which later offended the CA community. The aftermath of comments led to the trend of #SayNoToLenskart on social media platforms, especially among CAs.
Following the events, Peyush Bansal took to social media where he shared a post asking for an apology.
Peyush Bansal - Awards & Achievements
Some of his achievements are as follows:
- Red Herring Top 100 Asia Award 2013
- Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2012
- British Honor's Award at McGill University
- Best 40 under 40 entrepreneurs 2021 Fortune India
Peyush Bansal - Unknown Facts
- He loves watching suspense and thriller shows/web series.
- He loves to travel during his free time.
- He looks up to Bill Gates.
- His favorite sport is Cricket.
Peyush Bansal - Quotes
His popular quote, "I think Passion is the most important thing."
“As a budding entrepreneur, one should focus on value creation more than anything else.”
Bharath
FAQs
What is the net worth of Peyush Bansal?
The net worth of Peyush Bansal is approximately $75.5 million as of 2021.
What did Peyush Bansal study?
Peyush Bansal tried for IIT but could get into any college, he completed his Bachelor of Engineering from McGill University, Canada, and did the Management Programme for Entrepreneurs and Family Businesses (MPEFB) at IIM Bangalore.
How much stake does Peyush Bansal have in Lenskart?
Peyush Bansal has 8.21% stake in Lenskart
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