Build story · India · 2010–2024
Lenskart: online eyewear that built thousands of stores
Peyush Bansal started selling glasses online, then built his own manufacturing and thousands of stores with home eye tests — becoming India's leading eyewear brand.
By Shivam Bhandari · Reviewed 31 October 2026 · How we write
by the numbers
- Founded
- 2010
- Stores
- over 2,000
- Valuation (2022)
- about $4.5 billion
What happened
Peyush Bansal, a former Microsoft engineer, founded Lenskart in 2010 to sell eyewear online in India, where many people needing glasses didn't have them and local opticians varied widely in quality.
Lenskart realised customers wanted to try frames and get eye tests in person, so it opened physical stores and offered home eye tests. It built its own large manufacturing facility to control quality and cost, offering glasses at lower prices with fast delivery. It expanded internationally, including into Japan through Owndays.
Lenskart grew to more than 2,000 stores and was valued at about $4.5 billion in 2022.
Timeline
- 2010
Lenskart launches online.
- 2013
First physical stores.
- 2022
Acquires stake in Japan's Owndays.
what made it work
- Combined online and offline for a hard-to-buy-online product.
- Own manufacturing controlled cost and quality.
- Home eye tests removed friction.
the lesson
For products customers want to try in person, combining online convenience with physical stores can beat pure online models.
Apply it to your business
- 1Ask whether your customers need a physical touchpoint.
- 2Control manufacturing if quality is critical.
- 3Bring the service to the customer's home.
Laws at work in this story
Figures are rounded and drawn from public reports, company filings and widely cited coverage at the time. Check the company's latest filings before relying on any number.