Eyewear startup Glassic gets seed funding from group of angel networks

By Binu Paul

  • 25 Jan 2018
Kailash & Devesh Nichani, co-founders of Glassic.

Bangalore-headquartered eyewear brand Glassic has raised an undisclosed amount in seed investment from a group of angel networks which includes The Chennai Angels, Lead Angels and LetsVenture.

The company said in a statement that the funds will be used to build new products, expand its team and further strengthen marketing initiatives.

Owned and operated by Glassic Eyewear Pvt. Ltd, the firm designs and manufactures eyewear in-house and then sells its products online. They reach most of their customers directly through WhatsApp.

Glassic also lists its products on other online marketplaces such as Flipkart and Amazon.

Operating on a lean supply chain, the company claims that it is able to sell eyewear for under Rs 3,000.

Brothers Kailash and Devesh Nichani had started the company in 2015. The duo are also directors at Kapleshwar Optics, a family-owned eyewear equipment company.

Devesh has previously worked with Deloitte and Google.

Glassic claims to have sold eyewear to more than 12,000 customers so far.

“Glassic’s deep understanding of the eyewear industry has helped them work with very healthy unit economics,” said Manav Goyal of The Chennai Angels (TCA).

Noida-based Lenskart, India's leading eyewear retailer, has raised more than $145 million so far from a clutch of investors including Unilazer Ventures, PremjiInvest, TPG Capital, and IDG Ventures.

VCCircle had reported last November that Lenskart was working with Avendus Capital to raise up to $100 million (around Rs 650 crore) from investors for its next stage of expansion.

Chennai-based eyecare products retail chain Specsmakers Opticians Pvt. Ltd had last December raised $10 million (Rs 64 crore) in a round led by Eight Roads Ventures India, the investment arm of Fidelity International.