Ashish Kashyap and Sayali Karanjkar Join Lenskart Board as Independent Directors
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Eyewear retailer Lenskart has appointed Ashish Kashyap, founder of INDmoney, and Sayali Karanjkar, co-founder of PaySense, as independent directors on its board, according to recent regulatory filings. The appointments were finalised last week.
The development comes after the exit of Sumer Juneja, managing partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, who stepped down from the board on June 17, 2025. SoftBank has generally vacated board positions at portfolio companies either before or soon after their public listings, as seen in cases involving Swiggy, Meesho, PB Fintech and Paytm.
The inclusion of independent directors is intended to strengthen corporate governance standards and bring seasoned external oversight. Lenskart's board already has Jayesh Tulsidas Merchant, former chief financial officer of Asian Paints, and Bijou Kurien, former chief operating officer of Titan, serving in similar roles.
These board changes come at a time when Lenskart has received shareholder approval to go public, as per filings with the Registrar of Companies. The eyewear major plans to raise INR 2,150 crore (about USD 250 million) through a fresh share issue. The overall initial public offering size is expected to be about INR 8,500 crore (USD 1 billion), which will also include a secondary sale by existing investors. The proposal was approved during the company's annual general meeting on July 26.
Ahead of the listing, the NCR-based firm transitioned into a public limited entity last month, changing its name from Lenskart Solutions Private Limited to Lenskart Solutions Limited after an extraordinary general meeting on May 30.
With a targeted valuation of INR 85,000 crore (about USD 10 billion), the planned listing is expected to be a significant milestone for India's consumer internet space. Lenskart joins other startups such as Meesho, PhysicsWallah, Pine Labs, Urban Company, Wakefit, Groww and Shadowfax in preparing for public market entry.
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