Lenskart Group’s Neso Brands has invested $4 million in the Paris-based Le Petit Lunetier; and White Star Capital has announced the first close of its Structured Growth Capital Fund.
Lenskart’s Neso Brands invests $4m in Paris-based Le Petit Lunetier
Lenskart Group subsidiary Neso Brands has invested $4 million in Parisian omnichannel eyewear brand Le Petit Lunetier.
The equity investment in Petit Lunetier will be used to accelerate its expansion across key European markets such as Italy and Spain, as well as international cities like Singapore and Dubai within the next 3 to 5 years.
Le Petit Lunetier currently operates 16 stores in France, and has bootstrapped its way to profitability since it was founded by Elie Attias and J?r?mie Encaoua in 2015.
According to J?r?mie Encaoua, Le Petit Lunetier had hit a ceiling on its growth because it lacked the expertise and know-how to scale its business even further.
“At the time we were setting up new stores, but we had reached a specific juncture in our growth. We were not small anymore and we wanted to grow bigger, but we were constrained by existing resources and capacity to grow 10 times stronger,” shared Encaoua in an interview with DealStreetAsia.
Achieving this required an investor who could advise on overhauling portions of its backend support and infrastructure in order to drive the overall business to a new level.
This tie-up with Neso Brands offers support in areas such as hiring for more specialised functions like enterprise resource planning (ERP) and warehouse management systems, as well as access to Lenskart’s supply chain in India for the production of higher-quality frames and lenses.
This is Neso Brands’ fourth investment since its inception in 2022. Prior to this, the Singapore-based firm invested in advanced retail analytics companies TangoEye and GeoIQ and acquired Japanese eyewear brand OWNDAYS, which operates in more than 500 locations across 13 markets in the Asia Pacific and Middle East.
Last year, India’s Lenskart invested over $100 million in Neso Brands to invest and acquire eyewear brand businesses by offering shared resources like technology, supply chain and distribution to accelerate international expansion. Neso Brands is led by Bjorn Bergstrom, who previously served as chief growth officer of the Swedish fashion brand NA-KD. He also held prior stints in venture capital and management consulting.
White Star Capital secures first close of Structured Growth Capital Fund
White Star Capital has secured the first close of Structured Growth Capital Fund I, which offers both credit and equity to growth-stage startups in Europe and Southeast Asia.
This hybrid strategy is the first for the venture capital firm and is led by general partners Hemal Fraser-Rawal and Bryan McLoughlin based out of the UK.
White Star Capital declined to disclose the target size of the fund and the amount it secured in its first close, but shared that its limited partners (LPs) include institutions, foundations and family offices from Europe and Southeast Asia.
Fraser-Rawal shared that the fund aims to disburse 5-20 million euros in equity and debt per deal. He added that out of roughly 15-20 deals, about four or five will be in Southeast Asia and the remaining in Europe. Its loan tenures and rates can vary depending on the needs of the business, he added.
The firm will typically target Series B and above startups which have achieved product-market fit and demonstrated a proven business model in its category. “We are backing execution risk, we’re not backing product risk. In other words, if it does not have a product, we’re not going to back that. We’re also not backing a company that does not have validated market approvals,” shared Fraser-Rawal on a call with DealStreetAsia.
White Star Capital can tailor structures that work best for the cashflow profile of the company. These funds may be utilised as working capital, acquisition finance or other types of unique situations which may disqualify the firm from tapping on loans from traditional players.
“Sometimes there may be a requirement for fintech companies to provide Tier One capital ratio financing. Things like that which don’t quite fit the working capital and acquisition box, but are specific to a fintech that requires that type of limit. That’s the sort of thing we do,” explained Fraser-Rawal.
White Star Capital is a multi-asset investment firm investing in early-stage startups from venture capital and digital asset funds. It has global offices across New York, London, Paris, Montreal, Toronto, Tokyo, and Singapore. Some of its portfolio firms in Asia include Flash Coffee, Una Brands, Sleek and Eyeball Games.
