Lenskart’s CFO leaves, set to go public; likely to join Coke India as CFO

Bengaluru/Delhi: The chief financial officer of upcoming IPO Lenskart, Mukti Hariharan, has resigned from his job and is likely to take up a similar role at Coca-Cola’s Indian unit soon, three people familiar with the matter told Mint.

With this, Lenskart, which is one of the most anticipated IPOs in the Indian startup ecosystem, is now tasked with finding a new CFO as it plans to list on the stock exchange in 18-24 months.

Hariharan, according to her LinkedIn profile, joined Lenskart in April 2023 from Hindustan Unilever Ltd, where she headed finance for the home care division. Hariharan has around two decades of experience in finance and has held several management positions, including at Credit Suisse.

If her move to the beverage major goes through, Hariharan would replace Coca-Cola’s current CFO Harsh Bhutani, who will join the company’s largest bottling unit, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd (HCCB), in a similar role from October 1 as the company prepares to go public.

While Hariharan denied the development, Coca-Cola declined to comment. Lenskart did not respond to Mint’s request for comment.

Hariharan’s expected appointment is particularly important because India is Coca-Cola’s fifth-largest market in the world. The company returned to the market in the 1990s, selling brands such as Thums-Up, Sprite, Fanta and Limca, in addition to Coca-Cola.

As for Lenskart, the eyewear marketplace has raised almost $1 billion in capital in the last 18 months and is valued at around $5 billion. The Gurugram-headquartered company’s operating revenue has more than doubled to ₹3788 crore in 2022-23 from ₹1502 crore a year earlier. Losses reduced to ₹64 crores from ₹102 crore in fiscal 2022.

Coca-Cola’s Plans for India

Hariharan’s potential move to the beverage giant follows recent executive appointments at Coca-Cola.

Greishma Singh has joined the company as vice president of marketing, effective September 1, replacing Arnab Roy, who was recently appointed global category president, Coca‑Cola Trademark. Singh was most recently vice president, consumer and commercial leadership, Coca‑Cola’s India and Southwest Asia operations.

At HCCB, Bhutani’s appointment as the company’s financial operations supervisor is significant as its bottling subsidiary plans an initial public offering.

Coca-Cola is bullish on growth prospects in India as it looks to reinvest a significant portion of its capital to expand its manufacturing capacity in the country. Earlier this year, HCCB said it was building several new plants in Telangana and Maharashtra. It also said it would invest ₹3,000 crore to open a juice and aerated drinks manufacturing plant in Gujarat.

Coca-Cola’s business in developing and emerging markets grew 2% last year, driven by India and Brazil, which partially offset the suspension of its operations in Russia in 2022. The company also saw its share of the non-carbonated ready-to-drink beverages market increase by value, driven by share gains in India and other countries.