Piyush Suri

Lenskart IPO priced at $8 billion is bigger than the Entire Indian eyewear market size (~$6-7 billion) Let’s dig a little deeper- - Lenskart.com is targeting a valuation of ~$8 billion in its IPO. - For FY25 the company reported revenue of ~₹6,653 crore (~US$755 million) and a net profit of ~₹297 crore. - The Indian eyewear market is large and growing: One estimate suggests that it will grow to US$7-9 billion by 2030. But the math is also a little tricky. With around 2,700 stores, valuation per store comes at around ₹25.9 crore per store and the profit comes down to ₹11 lakh/year. For a profit of just 11 lakhs, valuation looks really high. But there are many arguments in the favour of the IPO - It’s not just about current store-profit per store; it’s about capturing a massive, under-penetrated market with growth ahead. - Lenskart’s omnichannel model, manufacturing integration and brand scale make it a premium choice above any local vendor and will grow rapidly in the next coming years. - If they can grow faster, expand margin, replicate the model internationally the premium may reflect future growth, not just today’s numbers as this is not just about the Indian market. ⁠ The arguments agains the IPO - At ~230× earnings (₹297 crore profit vs ~₹70,000 crore valuation) the multiple is stretched. - The FY25 profit includes one-off or non-operational gains (for instance, accounting adjustments) otherwise it’s still a loss making business even after 17 years of operations. - Most revenue still driven by opening new stores (i.e., more of a roll-out story) rather than existing store leverage. Growth will depend on capex, rentals, competition. My bottom line- - Yes, Lenskart is a category-leader and could benefit from secular trends (urbanisation, vision correction, online + offline retail). - But as a retail investor, you should ask: “At this price, am I buying future growth or overpaying for premium expectation?” - Just because it’s a great brand with scale does not automatically justify the valuation. Numbers and assumptions must align. Lenskart.com #lenskart #ipo

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Snapdeal co-founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, through their early-stage fund Titan Capital, had invested just ₹57 lakh in Urban Company during its seed stage. That small cheque has now turned into a ₹110 Cr exit, marking an extraordinary 200X return. The exit came after Titan Capital sold its stake to Dharana Capital (Vy Capital’s arm), right before Urban Company’s IPO — which went on to be oversubscribed 103X. This makes it one of the most successful early startup bets in India’s ecosystem, highlighting the power of patient, high-conviction angel investing. #TitanCapital #UrbanCompany #ROI #IPO #StartupUpdates #AngelInvesting #VC #Fundraise #Exit #Profit #India via Startupro.in

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Will this brand hit a growth ceiling soon? Is current growth based on strong brand/product For founders and even VCs evaluating 50 cr plus revenue brands who don’t have an offline presence yet and want to look at marketing metrics beyond LTV/CAC to answer these questions 10 metrics that can help 1. Total Media Spends as percentage of revenue This is a very hard metric without any assumptions and difficult to manipulate Plot Monthly Data for total Media spends across platforms ( Amazon, FB, Google etc) as a percentage of total Net E-commerce Revenue( Marketplaces, D2C etc) If this remains constant/reduces as the brand scales, it is a huge positive If this increases, needs double clicking 2. Advertising driven Sales At early stages, brands rely on pure performance marketing to drive sales. But this reliance should come down as the brand scales. Plot Monthly Data for percentage of Sales on e-commerce platforms directly driven by Ecom Ads, and percentage of sales on D2C directly driven by paid media If both remain constant/reduces as the brand scales, it is a positive 3. Organic Visits and Brand Searches For consumer brands, it is important to reduce their reliance on performance marketing by working on organic acquisition channels, improving brand awareness and good of word of mouth Tracking Organic Visits and brand search volumes on marketplaces and search engines are good ways to understand this If awareness improves, brand searches always improve. Both on marketplaces as well as google 4. Amazon Reviews and Ratings At scale, Amazon Reviews and Ratings are very difficult to game and gives a very true picture of quality and customer experience Rather than overall ratings and reviews, plot the monthly data of ratings Often early adopters are more considerate and rate new products better But if the monthly ratings remain consistently high with growing scale, it means the products are really good. And has a wider PMF beyond early adopters 5. Conversion Rates Conversion rates trends tell a lot about product-price-market-fit, and about the future scope of growth Look at monthly trends on conversion rates. With scale, conversion rates should go up on both Amazon and D2C A lowering conversion rate often means the in-market audience/core affinity TG is getting exhausted It is a big red flag if it happens as, it often indicates that future growth by paid media is going to be difficult and expensive 6. Repeats Repeat purchases are often the difference between the life and death for CPG brands with AOV on the lower side Look at monthly data on M1 and M3 repeats depending on the consumption cycle If these numbers keep on improving/keeps constant even when the brand moves and scales beyond its early adopters and core affinity TG, it is a big positive as it indicates product market fit at a bigger scale The remaining points are in the blogpost the link to which is in the first comment

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₹3 lakh became ₹450 crore in 8 years. No funding. No website. One product. Here's the story most DTC founders need to hear but won't believe. 2017: Bhayander, Mumbai. Two guys, Vishal Lohia and Ronak Bagadia, start a men's grooming brand called Muuchstac with ₹3 lakh ($3,600). For six years, they grind. The business grows slowly to ₹10 crore. Nothing spectacular. Just steady, profitable growth. Then in 2023, they notice something. One SKU, their face wash, is getting unusual traction. Repeat purchases. Word of mouth. Strong retention. They make a decision that most brands would never make: They kill everything else. Full pivot. One product. All energy on face wash. No brand diversification. No "portfolio strategy." No hedging bets. Just ruthless focus. What happened next: Within 18 months: ₹80 crore revenue ($9.6M) ₹30 crore EBITDA ($3.6M) 37.5% profit margin #2 men's face wash online Likely #3 overall (including offline) Their marketing? Micro-influencers. Organic content only. Zero paid ads. Zero TV. Zero performance marketing. Their distribution? Marketplaces. That's it. Their total capital deployed? Still just ₹3 lakh. Everything else was funded by profit. Last week, Godrej bought Muuchstac for ₹450 crore ($54M). The founders got a 15,000x return. And here's the part that should terrify every VC-backed DTC brand burning cash: Vishal and Ronak will keep running the business. Because they built something that works. Not something that needs fixing. The lesson isn't "don't raise funding." The lesson is this: Most brands die from complexity, not competition. They launch too many SKUs. They test too many channels. They chase too many audiences. They pivot too often. Muuchstac did the opposite. They found one thing that worked. Then they went all in. What this means for consumer brands today: The playbook isn't dead. It's just simpler than everyone thinks. Find one product that genuinely works. Prove retention. Then scale with discipline. Profitability isn't a nice-to-have. It's the only moat that survives.

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Zepto Raises $450 Million at $7 Billion Valuation Indian quick-commerce platform Zepto has secured a massive $450 million in a pre-IPO funding round, catapulting its valuation to $7 billion. This infusion of capital, led by the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), significantly strengthens Zepto's position in the fiercely competitive Indian grocery delivery market as it gears up for a public listing. This funding round, with a leading US pension fund taking a direct stake, signals immense investor confidence in the long-term viability and profitability of the quick-commerce model in India. It also gives Zepto a substantial war chest to compete with rivals like Swiggy's Instamart and Zomato's Blinkit. The company has demonstrated impressive growth, scaling from 500,000 to 1.7 million daily orders while simultaneously increasing the profitability of its dark stores. This proves that rapid expansion and a clear path to profitability can be achieved in the quick-commerce sector, a key concern for investors. "This financing is a reflection of our team's execution to grow the business rapidly while consistently building operating leverage. We now have approximately $900 million of net cash in the bank and are more than well-capitalised for the future,” said Aadit Palicha, CEO and Co-Founder of Zepto.   This pre-IPO funding round not only prepares Zepto for a successful public offering but also intensifies the battle for market share in India's booming quick-commerce industry. Expect to see accelerated expansion and innovation as the major players vie for dominance. What are your thoughts on the future of quick-commerce in India? Stay ahead with the latest in food delivery news from the weekly Boolanga Bites newsletter, brought to you by Boolanga. Sign up for our LinkedIn newsletter now to receive weekly updates directly to your inbox every Monday.

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💎 I had a lightbulb moment analyzing Indian jewelry retailers that I had to share… 💎 After days of analyzing different valuations in the jewelry sector, I realized multiples are essentially based on GMROI × Stud Ratio! The "stud ratio" (% of studded jewelry vs plain gold in sales mix) turns out to be THE key predictor of both gross margins and hence valuations. I kept feeling intuitively that some jewelry giants did "more gold" and hence had lower multiples, but couldn't articulate why until I realized the answer was right in front of me in the "stud ratio" metric. Sometimes our intuition knows before our analysis catches up! Check out the data: • Caratlane: >70% stud ratio online → received a rich 7+ multiple in final tranches of it’s acq, has 103% GMROI • Bluestone: 67% stud ratio → 6x multiple, 74% GMROI • Kalyan: 28% stud ratio → 3x multiple, 35% GMROI • Senco: 11% stud ratio → 1x multiple, 37% GMROI The insight was hiding in plain sight! Companies selling more diamonds/precious stones and less plain gold command dramatically higher valuations. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀: • Higher margins on studded pieces vs commodity-like gold • Better inventory turns (see Caratlane's 103% GMROI!) • Design-focused business model = stronger competitive moat • Reduced dependency on volatile gold prices This reminds me of how the carb:protein ratio predicts QSR economics. Simple product makeup can change margin structures so drastically. For investors: Next time you analyze a jewelry retailer, forget P/E ratios temporarily - check the stud ratio first! It might be the most important metric you're not tracking. Caratlane clearly understood this, building a business model with ~70% studded jewelry. No wonder they achieved top-tier multiples during acquisition! What other "hidden" operational metrics have you found that drive valuations in specific sectors? Would love to hear your examples. #ValueInvesting #RetailAnalytics #JewelryBusiness #EquityResearch #FinancialAnalysis Sources: Bluestone DRHP, company ARs

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Meet the couple who built one of India’s fastest-growing fashion brands — from scratch to ₹99+ Cr. Rimjim Deka spent over a decade building her first startup. But her name? Nowhere on it. Behind the scenes, she obsessed over product, customer emotions, and every tiny detail. For nearly 10 years, she carried the weight of creating something she wasn’t publicly credited for. When she exited, it took more than 2 months to recover emotionally. But she didn’t stop. 🧠 She started again — this time, not alone. Together with her husband, Partha Kakati, who left his secure government bank job, she co-founded Littlebox India — a fast fashion brand built on instinct, emotion, and speed. Her 10 years of fashion experience met his love for building and deep expertise in tech and operations. They started in 2020. Crossed ₹20 Cr in 2022. Now, in 2025? ₹99+ Cr. She leads product and creative direction. He runs systems, tech, and backend operations—a co-founder duo with clarity, trust, and zero noise. 🧠 They entered one of India’s toughest categories — fast fashion. - Low loyalty. - High return rates. - Trends are changing every 10 days. But they brought structure to the chaos. Within just two years, Little Box achieved a 22% retention rate. While most fashion brands struggled with 30%+ return rates, Little Box held steady around 20%. 📉 Then came a shock — their Instagram page was banned. The team panicked. But the founders didn’t. “It’s just Instagram. We’ll build it again.” That one sentence speaks volumes. Platforms come and go — but founders with clarity? They stay. On Shark Tank India, five sharks kept changing the deal. But the couple wasn’t chasing valuation. They wanted all five sharks, not for money, but for the strategic skills each brought. 🧠 Their biggest strength? Positioning. They don’t just sell clothes — they sell moods. Their website and Instagram don’t feel like catalogues. They feel like emotion in motion. While others fight for discounts and styles, Little Box connects through storytelling and community. That’s how they scaled to ₹99+ Cr — without ever being loud about it. 🔥 She built her first brand without credit. Together, they built their second with conviction. Little Box isn’t just a fashion label. It’s a masterclass in quiet confidence. ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── 🛠️ This is one of many brand stories I’m researching for my upcoming book: Built to Grow, Not Burn — a deep dive into the patterns, mindset, and structure behind brands that scale sustainably versus those that merely survive. #BuiltToGrow #D2C #BrandBuilding #FounderStories

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A game-changing hub for Indian products is set to launch by the end of 2026! Bharat Mart, a massive facility spanning over 2.7 million sq. ft. in Jebel Ali Free Zone, will feature retail outlets, showrooms, and warehousing — designed to revolutionize how Indian goods are distributed across #Africa, the #MiddleEast, and #Eurasia. This milestone announcement comes on the heels of Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan’s first official visit to India, signaling a renewed commitment to strengthening bilateral trade and economic collaboration. Read more: https://lnkd.in/dZ5hzzCf Khaleej Times #BharatMart #IndiaUAE #GlobalTrade #MiddleEast #IndianProducts #KhaleejTimes #BusinessExpansion

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