Early-stage consumer brands investment. It’s a wonderful time in India to create brands. Fireside Ventures was launched in 2017 and is an early-stage risk fund focused on consumer goods. The fund is expected to invest in luxury brands in fields such as food and drinks, personal care, children and education, way of living, and home products.
Gorish Dua
Fireside’s first fund had a corpus of €340 (about $48 million) crore and was funded by brands such as Unilever Ventures, Emami Ltd, and ITC Ltd. that moved quickly consumer goods (FMCG). The first fund was deposited by other investors, such as Premji Invest, Westbridge Finance, Mariwala Family Office, Sanjiv Goenka Family Office, and Sunil Munjal Hero Business Investment Office.
Investment in pre-Series A and Series A phases is usually between $4-5 million. ‘Fireside Fund II,’ as stated in its release, has been anchored by Indian and global funds and institutions with no limited partners. The second fund will double investment in youth brands and help scale the brand scope across its target market according to Kanwaljit Singh, managing partner of Fireside Ventures.
Fireside Ventures’s current Portfolio
It includes Boat, Yoga Bar, Samosa Singh, Goodness Beverages, Design Café, Bombay Shaving Company, Mama Earth, Pipa Bella, Vahdam Teas, Kwik 24, Magic Crate, Alpha Vector, Fable Street, Gynoveda, Sarva Yoga, and Slurrp Farm amongst others.
1. boAt
Startup consumer-tech lifestyle boAt was sponsored by Fireside Ventures, the early-stage business Rs 6 crore ($900,000). The launch firm, owned by Pvt. Ltd was founded as a brand of lifestyles in 2016 by Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta. They market items for consumer electronics, such as earphones, ears, speakers, and chargers. Formerly, Gupta has been involved in the US subsidiary of the Samsung Group with Harman International.
He also has collaborated with KPMG and began an undertaking earlier. The financing at BoAt is aligned with Fireside’s thesis on investment, said Kanwaljit Singh, Managing Partner at Fireside.
Purbalee Dutta
2. Mamaearth
Founded by Varun Alagh and Ghazal Alagh in 2016, this startup develops a baby product line including certified toxin-free body lotion, rash cream, body wash, diaper rash cream, massage oil, all bowel spray, and sunscreen for babies aged 0-5 years.
Mamaearth’s business will shortly extend its reach to other countries, first online and then offline. In 2017, they plan to meet at least 10,000 customers. The business ensures that its toxin-free product range is accredited by Made Safe, a US-based non-profit agency that delivers a rigorous credential focusing on human health.
“Mamaearth is addressing a key concern of most mothers regarding safer products for their babies. I see them (founders) creating many niches which currently do not exist in the Indian market but are needed by young parents,” said Kanwaljit Singh, founder, Fireside Ventures.
Rishabh Rathi
3. Vahdam Teas
In the Series B round of financing from established investors Fireside Ventures and Mumbai Angels Ltd, invested Rs 18 crore (around $2,5 million) in a Delhi-based tea e-tailer Vahdam Teas Pvt. Ltd. Fireside said in a statement that the recent fundraise is expected in the USA to invest in consumer sourcing and brand creation as it develops and investigates India’s new territories.
Vahdam is running an online marketplace that provides Indian tea to customers worldwide and was created in 2015 by Bala Sarda. The U.S., its main sector, accounts for 70% of its revenues, while the other 30% comes from 83 countries in which it operates.
In the season and in harvest zones, Vahdam invites more than 100 tea varieties. Tea subscription can be tracked and obtained by consumers every month a pack of five different tea varieties. Many of its purchases are made online and mostly from its own website, and over 100 million cups of luxury tea have been delivered to customers in more than 85 countries. Over the last two years, the brand has risen by 1,000 percent, it says.
Chayanika Goswami
4. Pipa+Bella
Pipa + Bella, a private label e-tailer that does not contain precious jewels, has raised $1 million (Rs 6.4 crore) from the seed fund, which focuses mainly on consumer goods, headed by Fireside Ventures.
The round was also attended by existing investment firms LionRock Capital, Japanese investor and Teruhide Sato, founder of Beenos, and Roopa Nath of Mumbai angels. The statement added that Kanwaljit Singh, the founder of Fireside Ventures, who previously co-founded Helion Venture Partners, will join the Board of Directors in the deal.
In its range of prices from Rs 500-Rs 3,000, the firm offers women in India and Southeast Asia specially designed and prepared jewelry. It claims to possess more than 800 units in stock. Consumers have access to the website or iOS app for the Pipa + Bella goods.
Lakshya Singh
5. Kapiva ayurveda
Kapiva Ayurveda, a food brand, said that in an early round of financing undertaken by the Fireside Investments market-oriented fund, it has raised $2.5 million (Rs 17,8 crores).
Kapiva, operated by Adret Retail Pvt Ltd, said the money would be spent on growing its distribution and brand recognition in a tweet. Kapiva has a portfolio of over 40 foodstuffs containing, according to release, herbal juices, ghee, and honey.
The goods of the Company are published in more than 4 000 outlets in 10 towns across India. The business also offers online goods on its own website as well as other sites including Amazon, BigBasket, and Netmeds.
Michelle D’souza
Conclusion
Fireside Ventures aims to work with young start-ups and entrepreneurs who are developing new digital-first products across the Indian consumption continuum in view of this growing demand and business prospects in the Indian industry. Kanwaljit Singh said, “The investment firm also looks for designers who create their products with an emphasis on what’s right for customers and the world at large.
To date, the company has invested in more than 22 brands and start-ups, which have grown their worth to more than USD 1 billion. Reports say that, as Fireside Ventures has begun to invest in these 22 brands, the development is eightfold.
Yash Gupta
