Eyewear unicorn Lenskart unit Neso Brands raises US$100m, appoints new CEO
Megan Cheah
SINGAPORE-BASED eyewear house Neso Brands, owned by Indian direct-to-consumer unicorn Lenskart, on Friday (May 20) announced it has raised more than US$100 million in funding.
Lenskart is backed by investors KKR, SoftBank, Alpha Wave Global and Temasek. (*see amendment note)
With the funding, Neso Brands will partner and invest in consumer eyewear brands globally. It aims to grow these brands by leveraging synergies across the Lenskart group and accelerating international expansion.
It has also appointed Bjorn Bergstrom as founding chief executive officer (CEO), the startup said.
Bergstrom was most recently the chief growth officer and interim chief product and technology officer of Swedish fashion brand NA-KD. He also has experience as a venture capital investor for early-stage growth startups, as well as in management consulting.
Founded in 2022, Neso Brands aims to enable direct-to-consumer eyewear brands to achieve a quicker global rollout through access to shared resources like technology, supply chain and distribution.
“By investing in the most promising new brands in the industry and leveraging centralised resources across technology, manufacturing and distribution, Neso Brands will be uniquely positioned to scale the eyewear brands of the future,” said Bergstrom.
*Amendment note: A previous version of the story stated that KKR, SoftBank, Alpha Wave Global and Temasek invested in Neso Brands. They in fact invested in Lenskart. The article has been amended to reflect this.
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