Exclusive: Ex-Unacademy CBO Abhinav Agarwal’s New Eyewear Startup Raises $2.2 Mn

Serial entrepreneur and former Unacademy CBO Abhinav Agarwal is launching a new startup in the eyewear space and has raised $2.2 Mn seed funding in a round led by India Quotient. 

Agarwal told Inc42 that the funding round also saw participation from notable angle investors such as Unacademy’s Gaurav Munjal and Roman Saini, CRED’s Kunal Shah, Snapdeal’s Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, V3 Ventures’ Arjun Vaidya, Offline’s Utsav Somani, Urban Company’s Abhiraj Singh Bahl, CoinDCX’s Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal, Redbus’ Phanindra Sama and former Deutsche Bank CEO Dilipkumar Khandelwal. 

The startup, which is in stealth mode currently, will utilise the capital for product research, brand building, team hiring, and building inventory. Agarwal worked with Unacademy for almost a year as a CBO after his company SwifLearn was acquired by the edtech major in 2021. Prior to that, he cofounded DoorMint, which shut operations in 2017.

Commenting on the new venture, Agarwal said there is a need to improve the eyewear quality in the country. “We won’t compromise on the quality, design, lens, and the experience. This is what our focus is,” he said. 

The startup plans to sell its products via its own website as well as offline stores. Its formal launch is expected in the next few months, along with the opening of its first retail outlet.

“Retail outlets will be a core strategy for us as users like to visit stores to try on spectacles and get eye checkups done. This will also result in conversion and we will also get on spot feedback,” Agarwal said, who has been working on this startup since the start of this year. 

The startup’s website, which is currently under development, will offer a virtual try-on feature. 

Responding to a question on the competition, the founder said that there is a gap in the market as quality products are currently available only at premium price points. “So there’s a gap. This is where we come in,” he added.

He further noted that while eyewear was once seen as a utility item, it has now evolved into a blend of utility and fashion –becoming an extension of one’s personality. With rising income levels in the country, the spending on eyewear has also gone up. This, Agarwal said, provides a big opportunity.

As per Statista, the Indian eyewear market is estimated to generate a revenue of $6.24 Bn in 2025 and this is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.26% till 2029.

However, Agarwal’s new startup will have to compete with established new-age tech players like IPO-bound Lenskart and ClearDekho, which was recently acquired by Jaipuria Group. In the traditional space, the startup will compete with the likes of Titan, Himalayan Eyewear, Dayal Opticals, among others.