- Founder: Piyuesh Kalra and Sunil Chhabra
- Business: Eyewear
- Ask: ₹75 Lakhs for 6% Equity
- Valuation: ₹12.5 Crore
- Result: No Deal
- Sharks: No Deal
- Episode: Season 2 Episode 17
Eyenic Shark Tank Pitch:
Eyeglasses are a blessing for people who need vision correction, and those people start their day by putting on their glasses first thing in the morning. Thirty-five percent of the Indian population needs glasses. India has over 40,000 optical stores. Eyenic is a brand made for Indians, which is affordable, stylish, and durable. Eyenic was started in 2017 and is now available in over 300 outlets in 5 states. They have sold over 1.25 lakh glasses at the time of the pitch. People can also purchase glasses through their own website. Their vision is to be the most demanded brand for sunglasses.
Eighty-five percent of sales come from frames, and 15% of sales come from lenses. Sixty percent of production is done in China, 30% in India, and 10% in Turkey. Their main differentiator is that they are not competing but utilizing the optical stores and are well connected with them. They sell 5000-6000 glasses a month, out of which around 20% of glasses are bought by turban wearers, for which they have over 50 SKUs. Their lifetime revenue is over 4 Crores, with the last year being at 1 Crore. The gross margin is at 45%, and the net margin is at 21%, but they are bootstrapped, and all the money is being invested back into the business.
Eyenic Shark Tank Negotiations & Funding:
Namita asks why they are competing with Lenskart, to which Piyuesh responds that it’s a massive industry, so having only one big retailer is not good for consumers. Amit asks how they compete with Lenskart pricing, to which they respond that they are directly competing in pricing with some Lenskart brands. Amit asks that after doing the math, they are only making about 5000 per outlet, which is not much, so what’s the challenge.
Piyuesh responds that the biggest challenge is they have other brands as well, so that is why they are expanding their product line to generate more revenue. Amit comments that there may not be a demand for their product, to which the entrepreneurs disagree, but he asks if there is demand, then why it’s not showing in numbers. They add that there are inventory constraints.
Amit adds that they need a co-founder who understands the tech to run the new side of their business, so he goes out. Namita adds that she does not have expertise in this area, so she goes out. Aman also follows Namita. He adds that the brand was unable to create the pull, and they are still pushing the product to retailers. Anupam asks what they need from a shark; Piyuesh adds that they need help in brand building and capital. Anupam says that their business model is wrong, and they would not be able to scale with that. Anupam says that they need to close the B2B business.
Piyush starts the conversation by saying that it’s not like he is not going to invest because it’s an eyewear brand. As Lenskart founder, he is open to investing in other eyewear brands, but he is out of this deal because he cannot see a fundamental differentiation. He likes the design, but there is no difference in quality. Anupam asks if they are open to a different business model. He adds that he is willing to give an offer if they are open to making this a B2B marketplace. Piyuesh says that they are interested in that, but they still want to use the optical network, so Anupam goes out of the deal and wishes them the best.
How is Eyenic doing After Shark Tank India:
Our Eyenic research revealed that despite not getting a deal on Shark Tank, the company is still in business. As of October 2023, they have around 4000 followers on social media. They are still following the same structure as pitched. They are serving directly to consumers on their website Eyenic.in and through hundreds of outlets nationwide.
Do you think the sharks made the right choice by not investing in the business? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below! Here are the other companies which presented in Season 2 Episode 17:-
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