‘Shark Tank India’ Judge’s Eyewear Firm Lenskart Seesaws in Trading Debut

(Bloomberg) -- SoftBank Group Corp.-backed Lenskart Solutions Ltd. swung between gains and losses on its Mumbai trading debut after the company’s initial public offering raised 72.8 billion rupees ($821 million) and fueled a debate over soaring Indian startup valuations.

Shares of the eyewear retailer founded by “Shark Tank India” judge Peyush Bansal tumbled as much as 12% early Monday, before rebounding to as high as 413.80 rupees, up 2.9% from the IPO price. The stock ended up closing up 0.3%.

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The IPO attracted subscriptions that were 28 times the amount of shares on offer, led by institutional investors, but the stock was valued at 238 times last fiscal year’s earnings in its IPO — versus the multiple of 42 that the BSE Consumer Discretionary index trades at. Concerns about high valuations prompted Ambit Capital to initiate coverage of the company with a sell recommendation.

“While the business may be good, the current price levels may be difficult to sustain in the short term,” said Shankar Sharma, founder of GQuant.

In recent days, social media criticism over the IPO’s valuation got so heated that DSP Asset Managers Pvt. publicly defended its investment in Lenskart. The mutual fund said the company’s business is “strong and scalable,” but conceded the deal was “expensive.”

The listing comes as India strengthens its position as a global fundraising hub, supported by deep domestic liquidity and a fast-growing retail investor base. It’s the world’s fourth-busiest IPO market this year, attracting investors seeking exposure to its expanding consumer economy. Indian debuts have raised nearly $17 billion in 2025, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Upcoming big IPOs in the country include Billionbrains Garage Ventures Ltd., parent of top Indian online broker Groww, and digital-payments provider Pine Labs Ltd., which is backed by Mastercard Inc. and PayPal Holdings Inc.

Following the IPO, Lenskart has a market value of about 700 billion rupees — higher than those of established consumer companies including Colgate-Palmolive India Ltd., United Breweries Ltd., Page Industries Ltd. and one of Procter & Gamble Co.’s Indian units.

Investors in Lenskart’s IPO included funds from JPMorgan Chase & Co., Nomura Holdings Inc., Amundi SA and HSBC Holdings Plc, as well as the government of Singapore.

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(Updates with closing share prices in second paragraph.)

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