ClearDekho – India’s leading affordable eyewear brand, today announced that it has raised USD 5 Million in Series A funding. The round is led by new investors namely Venture Catalysts and SphitiCap along with investments from Dholakia Ventures, NB Ventures, Estrela Ventures, Cornerstone, Boon Capital, FAAD Network and others.
In a span of merely four years, ClearDekho has displayed 18X growth, recording a 60 per cent year-on-year growth in revenue from FY 20-21 to FY 21-22. With 100+ stores opened in over 40+ cities, the brand has generated a total revenue of INR 20+ crores ($2.5Mn). Furthermore, ClearDekho has sold 4 lakh+ eyewear products, serving over 2 lakh customers in the duration it has been operational; building a strong community of customers that vouch for its quality, accessibility, and affordability.
ClearDekho addresses a major need gap for affordable eyewear solutions prevalent in tier I, II & III cities, and towns across India. It enables access to high quality affordable eyewear solutions for the low-income masses through an omni-channel O2O business model, blending both, online and offline routes. In addition, the brand showcases a track record of partnerships with prestigious organizations such as CISF, ITBP, BSF, IOCL and many more.
Talking about the fund raise, Shivi Singh, Founder & CEO, ClearDekho said, “India has enormous demand for eyewear and the organized play is growing by 2x every year. We are extremely bullish on Bharat opportunity, and we see a tectonic shift in consumer behaviour due to the increasing screen times across new-age consumers from tier III, IV & V towns of India. We have seen the business grow by almost 60 per cent from FY 21 to FY 22 and are determined to double down in the coming years. Eyewear as a category is evolving and we strongly believe this decade will be transformative for omni-channel businesses targeting mass market consumers across India. We are glad to receive the support and resources from like-minded investors like Sphiticap and partners to build for the next billion users.”
ClearDekho is building India’s one of the most affordable eyewear brands targeting the low income mass market consumers across Tier II, III & IV cities and towns. It operates on online marketplace and asset light franchise driven retail stores to deliver high quality affordable eyewear. From its inception in 2017, the brand has opened 100+ stores across 40+ cities with the vision to standardize 80 per cent unorganized optical retail market through its asset light omni-channel O2O business model.
“There has been a marked shift in which people perceive online shopping post pandemic. This shift has given impetus to visionary brands like ClearDekho to grow exceptionally. We are excited about working with a brand that comes with an exemplary track record and a sustainable expansion strategy,” Mr. Pallav Singh, Managing Partner, SphitiCap said. “With their superior product offerings, ClearDekho is loved by its consumers. In the short span that we have been associated with them, we are highly impressed with the team’s focus to continuously better their offerings, through execution of plans and the sheer commitment to delivering nothing but the best. We look forward to a long-term association with ClearDekho and witnessing a compounding growth of the brand,” he added.
Speaking on the round, Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Co-Founder & CEO, Venture Catalysts Group said, “The impeccable growth record displayed by ClearDekho in a short period of just four years attracted Venture Catalysts from the start. To add to that, the novel solutions provided by the company, catering to the masses and enabling access to affordable eyewear was recognised by us as a cause to promote through our resources and network. We are delighted to join ClearDekho in bringing a wide range of eyewear products and services to customers across India.”
SphitiCap is an India-centered, early-stage sector agnostic fund, primarily investing in 10 sectors across India. With innovation as the core fundamental, SphitiCap focuses on investments in enterprises that align with the tenets of sustainability, growth, and impact. The VC firm funds firms from the seed stage to Series A, leading to a funding size of USD 10 million. The total corpus of the fund is 500 million. aims to value sustainable profitable growth with a well-defined exit strategy. It pioneers Indian businesses by embedding large-scale capital raise and investor confidence eco-systems seamlessly and powerfully.
