A sharp valuation leap at eyewear unicorn Lenskart has ignited a debate within India’s startup ecosystem, after a LinkedIn post by Vipul Mehta, Founder & CEO of Tipping Point, questioned how the company’s value appeared to soar nearly eightfold in just three months, ahead of its much-anticipated IPO.
According to Mehta’s post, Peyush Bansal, co-founder and CEO of Lenskart, reportedly took a ₹200 crore loan in July to buy additional shares of his own company at a valuation of around ₹8,500 crore. Now, as the firm prepares to go public in November, the same company is said to be valued near ₹70,000 crore, with Bansal expected to cash out roughly ₹850 crore.
“So, what really changed?” Mehta asked in his post. “Did the business suddenly become eight times stronger or did the market narrative simply become eight times louder?”
A Narrative That Outpaced Numbers?
While Mehta did not accuse Lenskart of wrongdoing, his post triggered a wave of reactions from founders and investors, several of whom echoed the sentiment that valuation in private markets often follows perception rather than performance.
“Value doesn’t always move with business growth,” Mehta added, “it often moves with storytelling and timing.”
One more founder publicly joined the debate, describing the eyewear company’s rapid valuation surge as “unrealistic ahead of listing.” The comment underscores growing discomfort within the startup community about lofty valuations driven by secondary deals and pre-IPO positioning rather than core financial growth.
From Startup Darling to Market Bellwether
Founded in 2010 by Peyush Bansal, Amit Chaudhary and Sumeet Kapahi, Lenskart has built one of India’s most recognisable D2C brands in the eyewear segment. Over the past decade, it has expanded into over 2,000 stores, invested in global acquisitions such as Owndays (Japan), and diversified across India’s tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
However, a near 8x jump in valuation over a single quarter, without major public disclosures of new funding or business events, has raised questions about how startup narratives evolve as companies approach listing.
Market analysts note that valuation re-ratings ahead of IPOs are not uncommon. Secondary transactions, where early investors or founders buy or sell shares, can occur at negotiated prices that differ from book valuations. Yet, a gap of this magnitude has turned heads.
An investment banker familiar with the matter told “the July valuation likely reflected a private buyback at a conservative mark, while the current number reflects the IPO pricing potential based on forward projections and investor appetite.”
Still, the optics of such a steep climb invite scrutiny, especially in a market recovering from several overhyped IPOs that underperformed post-listing.
The Fine Line Between Growth and Storytelling
The larger conversation, as Mehta’s post highlights, isn’t about one company but about how India’s startup valuation culture often swings between extremes of caution and euphoria.
In an ecosystem that celebrates unicorn milestones, perception can often shape value faster than performance metrics, until markets bring them back in sync.
Whether Lenskart’s IPO sustains its ₹70,000 crore valuation remains to be seen. But the debate has already sparked an important question across the startup boardrooms, where does growth end and storytelling begin?
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