Lenskart Founder Peyush Bansal’s Education & Net Worth

Peyush Bansal, the man behind Lenskart, one of India’s biggest e-commerce portals in the optics and eyewear space, has recently made it to Forbes’ list of top young entrepreneurs under 30 years of age. Peyush Bansal, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, has co-founded Lenskart, the one-stop shop for eye care and eyewear in India. Before founding Lenskart, he worked at Microsoft in the United States. He also served as an Associate Professor at IIT Delhi. He comes from a family of entrepreneurs, as his father co-founded Korea Retail (which runs Lifestyle) and his brother founded Snapdeal.

Early life and education

 He was born and brought up in Delhi, India. He finished his education in an Indian school but decided to continue his studies overseas. Between 2002 and 2006, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering-IT from McGill University in Canada. In addition, he is also a graduate of IIM, Bangalore.

Career & Achievements

Peyush received the “British Honor Award” and made the Dean’s List throughout his five years of study at McGill University. After completing his PGDM from IIM, Banaglore, he was hired by Microsoft. He was employed as a program manager but eventually left after one year.

When he was 24, he only had one goal in mind: to found a company devoted primarily to online retail. To that end, he established the e-commerce site Lenskart with partners Amit Chaudhary and Sumeet Kapahi. He also founded the startup AQUALENS, John Jacobs, and Lenskart Vision Fund, all of which work in the similar niche of lenses and eyewear.

He has collaborated with notable entrepreneurs to establish brands and companies like Alpha, Infeedo, Dailyobjects, and Turms. He currently serves as a judge on the popular Indian version of Shark Tank, which enables him to make investments in India’s most promising entrepreneurs.

Peyush Bansal’s Journey

Even though Peyush Bansal had worked at Microsoft, he wanted to be his own boss. So he quit. Upon returning to India, he had no business plan other than a vague idea that the business should be centered on e-commerce.

During this time, he began interacting with university students, which prompted him to launch SearchMyCampus.com in December 2008 for their specific needs. The student classified platform helped students with any problems they faced, whether it be jobs, housing, coaching, books, or transportation. When he had 20 employees, he registered Valyoo Technologies (now the parent company of Lenskart) in June 2008.

He nonetheless registered in a yearlong graduate entrepreneurship programme at IIM during the same time, and it soon became apparent to him that running a classified enterprise was not practical. So instead, he came up with the concept of selling eyewear, such as glasses, contact lenses, and sunglasses, online. He had initially planned to start a company that catered to the American market. But it fell short, leading to new problems, including those with delivery and operations.

Due to Peyush’s decision to imitate the Flyer business model in India, Lenskart was introduced in 2009. The company started solely selling contact lenses in February 2011 but eventually began selling eyeglasses and sunglasses as well. The brand later expanded retail locations to enhance the client experience. 

Lenskart’s Success

Lenskart employs a hybrid B2C business strategy, conducting business both online and through physical stores. Only a small percentage of the population has access to glasses, even though one-third of people require them. Moreover, with approximately 15 million blind individuals, India is frequently referred to as the “blind capital of the world.”

Initially, the company was concerned that Indian customers would not be confident about purchasing glasses over the Internet. So the company followed two procedures to gain customer confidence: first, they set up a chat line to answer any questions. Secondly, they offered a 14-day no-questions-asked return policy with deep discounts. As part of Lenskart’s marketing efforts, Google ranking played a crucial role in promotion and marketing. The brand’s first brand ambassador was actress Katrina Kaif in October 2017.

Conclusion

Peyush’s success with his own Lenskart is inspiring and worth sharing. He did everything from realizing a need to gaining market share and funding with passion and drive.