Eyewear giant Lenskart has announced key board changes as it gears up for a public market debut. At its Annual General Meeting held on July 26, shareholders approved the appointment of Ashish Kashyap, founder of INDmoney and former CEO of Ibibo Group, and Sayali Karanjkar, co-founder of PaySense, as independent directors.
The development comes as Sumer Juneja, Managing Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, stepped down from the board.
The new appointments are part of Lenskart’s broader efforts to align with public market governance norms. Both Kashyap and Karanjkar bring significant entrepreneurial depth and operational experience.
- Sayali Karanjkar is a seasoned fintech leader, having co-founded PaySense (acquired by PayU in 2020) and held roles at ElasticRun. She also serves on multiple boards and actively invests in startups such as Kiwi, Scapia, Nimbbl, and Inai.
- Ashish Kashyap brings over 25 years of experience across tech and consumer businesses, including leadership roles at Google and Times Internet.
The expanded board now includes founders Peyush Bansal, Neha Bansal, and Amit Chaudhary, alongside senior professionals like Jayesh Merchant (ex-CFO, Asian Paints), Bijou Kurien (ex-COO, Titan), and Anant Gupta (Partner, Kedaara Capital).
As part of its IPO preparations, Lenskart has also introduced ESOP 2025, a new stock option plan comprising 72.8 lakh options (approx. 0.43% of diluted equity), with 21.84 lakh reserved for senior leaders across the company and its subsidiaries.
The company has also secured shareholder approval to raise INR 2,150 Cr (~$250 Mn) via a fresh issue of shares in the upcoming IPO.
Founded in 2008, Lenskart operates over 2,000 stores globally and was last valued at $6.1 Bn, backed by marquee investors including SoftBank, Temasek, ADIA, Fidelity, KKR, Alpha Wave Global, and TPG.
