Launched in May 2017, Fireside Ventures is an investment company that is focused on pumping capital in consumer brands with definite branding opportunities. The 3 focal scope of investment include brand, consumer and product.
An early-stage investment platform for consumer brands, Fireside Ventures is among the new investment companies in India that are riding on big opportunities that lie in the Indian startup space.
So far, Fireside Ventures has made investments in around 47 Indian companies such as Tasty Tales, Fable Street and The Ayurveda Experience, and holds 19 companies including Goodness Beverages and Kapiva, in its portfolio. One of Fireside’s early investments, Kwik 24, was acquired by online grocery firm BigBasket in 2018. The India-focused investment firm boasts of a rich portfolio of startups from teas to toys and shaving cream to samosas. Mamaearth, Yoga Bar, Magic Crate, Pipa+Bella and BoAt, Vahdam Teas, Bombay Shaving Company, Goodness!, Samosa Singh, DesignCafe, and Alpha Vector make to Fireside Ventures’ investment portfolio.
In its first fund, Fireside Ventures raised INR 340 cr in 2018. Sitaram gave in some details about how the firm wishes to allocate this money. “These are funds for specialists and their company to invest in consumer space, in consumer products and where they see a branding opportunity – that’s the scope of the fund,” Fireside Ventures’ partner Kannan Sitaram. The fund has already completed 16 transactions.
Sectors to Watch Out For
Sitaram outlined 3 sectors that he sees will witness explosive growth.
Food – Food is definitely one of the most important factors says Sitaram.
Sitaram thinks millennial consumer is very interested in the food they consume.
Recreation – Another important factor is the recreational area.
Sitaram thinks that’s the area where consumers are investing in. Now people take good holidays, take photographs, want to put up photographs on Instagram, Facebook and so on and that’s the trend that go into the products space as well, says Sitaram.
Children – Due to smaller families, there is more involvement with the kids so we cater to them is definitely big a big opportunity.
“The Indian start-up ecosystem for consumer brands is evolving rapidly and we are seeing significant new opportunities to build large consumer brands across multiple sectors and themes. We have witnessed a lot of interest from domestic and global investors including family offices, strategics, large Institutions, etc. in investing in Fireside Fund II.”
Kanwaljit Singh, Managing Partner of Fireside Ventures
Fireside’s first fund had a corpus of ₹340 crore (approximately $48 million) and was backed by fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands such as Unilever Ventures, Emami Ltd and ITC Ltd. Other investors including Premji Invest, Westbridge Capital, Mariwala Family Office, Sanjiv Goenka Family Office, and Sunil Munjal’s Hero Enterprise Investment Office had also invested in the first fund.
They have raised commitments worth $60 million for its second fund, which has a target corpus of $100 million in total. The VC fund recently secured an undisclosed sum of money from French personal care company L’Oréal in September 2019 for its second fund.
Singh pointed out that the Fireside portfolio will look to expand into newer brands across segments such as super-foods, personalized beauty, fashion and personal care. Singh also said that they are also starting to see credible opportunities for Indian brands to go global. This is an important point to note specially in the wake of the world start-up ecosystem which is booming. With the number of unicorns in India already exceeding 25, the nation has the potential to lead the world start-up ecosystem.
With COVID-19 putting the spotlight on the consumption sector, the venture capitalists are on the prowl and this is just the perfect opportunity for Fireside Ventures.
