Lenskart invests in Ajna Lens, a startup building AI-powered XR glasses

Peyush Bansal-led eyewear giant Lenskart has made a strategic investment in Ajna Lens, a Mumbai-based deeptech startup building AI-powered extended reality (XR) glasses. The investment, whose value remains undisclosed, is a step forward in Lenskart's ambitions to build next-generation smart eyewear.

Founded in 2014, Ajna Lens develops immersive hardware and software platforms rooted in spatial computing, AI vision, and XR technologies. The startup, which won the CES Innovation Award in 2023 for its mixed-reality headset AjnaXR, serves enterprise, education and defense sectors with tools designed to bridge physical and digital environments.

“This investment marks the next chapter in our Smart Glass journey, which began with the launch of Phonic, our audio glasses, in December 2024,” said Peyush Bansal, co-founder and chief executive officer of Lenskart. “As the smart glasses category scales rapidly, our partnership with Ajna Lens strategically positions us to accelerate product innovation in this space.”

Lenskart said it plans to bring its established capabilities in frame design and engineering to the collaboration, aiming to develop consumer-grade smart glasses that integrate emerging AI and XR technologies. The IPO-bound company emphasised its intention to build smart glasses that are not only functional but also lifestyle-friendly and accessible to a broader demographic.

The Gurugram-based eyewear giant operates more than 2,500 stores across India and Southeast Asia and has a significant online presence. It produces 25 million frames and 30 to 40 million lenses annually.

The move comes at a crucial time for Lenskart, which is preparing for an initial public offering. In June, the company converted itself into a public limited entity, a prerequisite for listing on Indian stock exchanges. It is reportedly exploring a $1 billion IPO at a valuation of $10 billion, double the $5 billion valuation at which it raised $200 million in a secondary round last year. That round included investments from Singapore sovereign fund Temasek and Fidelity Investments.