Mumbai, May 4: Lenskart Solutions, which operates an online portal for eyewear, has raised Rs 400 crore in a fresh round of funding led by World Bank arm IFC. The funding saw participation from Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, and Kris Gopalakrishnan, co-founder of Infosys, besides its existing investors, including TPG Growth and IDG Ventures.

According to a statement, IFC, as a lead investor, put in Rs 171 crore in the Series D round of funding. Both Tata and Gopalakrishnan have invested in their personal capacities. Adveq Management has also invested. Avendus Capital was the exclusive financial adviser to this transaction.

Lenskart is into assembling, manufacturing, wholesale distribution and supply of eyewear products, including eyeglasses, power sunglasses and contact lenses.

The company will use the funds to expand the reach of its eyewear across 400 cities, strengthen its technology, supply chain and lens manufacturing.

Founded in 2010, Lenskart had raised over Rs 300 crore from investors, including IDG Ventures ($4 million in October 2011), Ronnie Screwvala-led Unilazer Ventures ($10 million in February 2013), TPG Growth and TR Capital ($22 million in January 2015).

"The investment is part of IFC's Venture Capital group's strategy to invest in innovative Internet, healthcare and technology companies across emerging markets. This will support a rapidly growing market leader in the Internet sector, while meeting a significant gap in the Indian eyecare market,'' Pravan Malhotra, IFC's co-lead for Global Internet investments and lead for Venture Capital investments in South and Southeast Asia, said. Malhotra will join Lenskart's board of directors.

"We will be able to draw on IFC's extensive global experience in the healthcare and manufacturing sectors, particularly in supply chain development and capacity building, to realise its potential and develop best practices,'' Peyush Bansal, founder & CEO of Lenskart, said.