MUMBAI: Indian billionaire businessman Ratan Tata, who is also known for his investments in the country’s burgeoning start-up ecosystem, is reportedly set to make an exit from one of the companies with a massive profit.
According to an Entrackr report, Tata will see a 28-times return on his investment of ₹10 lakh in eyewear retailer Lenskart in 2016. However, sources close to Tata have confirmed that the return on his investment would be 4.6 times.
Tata has investments in over 20 Indian start-ups in his personal capacity, including the likes of Ola, Ola Electric, Cure.fit, FirstCry, and Urban Company. According to Hurun Rich List, Tata’s net worth is ₹6,000 crore.
Entrackr’s sources confirmed that one of the existing backers would acquire Tata’s stake in the IPO-bound firm. “This secondary will be executed at a valuation of over $2 billion,” said one of the sources, requesting anonymity. The transaction is likely to be completed by next month, the person added.
The start-up, which attained the unicorn status in December 2019 after a $231 million investment from Japanese firm SoftBank, has also allegedly headed for an initial public offering (IPO). This start-up is also backed by investors namely Premji Invest, Kedaara Capital, Chiratae Ventures and more.
Founded in 2008 by Peyush Bansal, Sumeet Kapahi and Amit Chaudhary, Lenskart had rapidly expanded with multiple stores. Now, the brand has about 535 stores across the country. Lenskart has had its fair share of issues along the way with losses mounting, and has recently turned profitable.