INDmoney founder Ashish Kashyap, Sayali Karanjkar join Lenskart board; SoftBank’s Sumer Juneja steps down

SoftBank's Sumer Juneja has stepped down from the board of Lenskart, the omnichannel eyewear retailer that is preparing for its public market debut.

At its annual general meeting on July 26, Lenskart shareholders approved the appointment of two new independent directors: Ashish Kashyap, founder of INDmoney and former CEO of Ibibo Group, and Sayali Karanjkar, co-founder of the digital lending platform PaySense.

The appointments are part of Lenskart’s broader effort to align with public market governance norms. Both directors bring deep entrepreneurial and operational expertise.

Karanjkar, whose company PaySense was acquired by PayU in 2020, has also held leadership roles at ElasticRun and served on the boards of MobiKwik and CMS Info Systems. She is an active investor in fintech and SaaS startups, including Kiwi, Scapia, Xflow, Nimbbl, and Inai. Kashyap, meanwhile, has over 25 years of experience across startups and global tech companies, including Google and Times Internet.

Alongside co-founders Peyush Bansal, Neha Bansal, and Amit Chaudhary, the board includes Jayesh Merchant, former CFO of Asian Paints; Bijou Kurien, former COO of Titan and ex-board member of L Catterton Asia; and Anant Gupta, partner at Kedaara Capital.

As part of its IPO preparations, Lenskart also introduced a new employee stock ownership plan, ESOP 2025, comprising 72.8 lakh stock options or approximately 0.43% of its fully diluted equity. Of these, 21.84 lakh options are reserved for senior staff at general manager level and above. The options will vest based on performance and tenure, and apply to employees across Lenskart and its subsidiaries.

Notably, the company secured shareholders' approval to raise Rs 2,150 crore (approximately $250 million) through a fresh issue of shares as part of its upcoming initial public offering (IPO).

Founded in 2008, Lenskart operates more than 2,000 retail stores and has expanded internationally in recent years. The company was last valued at $6.1 billion following a mark-up by investor Fidelity in April. It is backed by marquee investors such as Temasek, SoftBank, Fidelity, ADIA, Alpha Wave Global, KKR, and TPG.