FIRESIDE VENTURES
D2C snack brand Let's Try secures funding from Wipro Consumer Care Ventures
Let's Try will use the funds to accelerate growth across both offline and online channels. The New Delhi-based company offers a wide range of snacks including baked, fried, and roasted namkeens. Let's Try claims to have a revenue run rate of over Rs 50 crore.
Early-stage VC Z21 Ventures planning $40 million second fund
Z21 Ventures, an early-stage investment firm focusing on the India-US corridor, has fully deployed its first $5-million fund and is gearing up to launch a $40 million second fund. The firm, founded in 2022 by Abhinav Shashank and Raj Shekhar Singh, targets enterprise software and hardware startups with investments ranging from $100,000 to $150,000, backed by a community of Indian-origin technology executives like Google, Amazon, and Meta.
Block deal impact: Mamaearth shares fall 4% as 66 lakh shares change hands
Mamaearth Share Price: Shares of Honasa Consumer, owner of Mamaearth, dropped 4% post a block deal where 66.20 lakh shares exchanged at Rs 439 each, totaling Rs 291 crore. The deal, equivalent to a 2% stake, likely saw Fireside Ventures and Sofina Ventures as sellers, both holding significant stakes in Honasa Consumer.
Boat's parent brand Imagine Marketing India in talks with investors to raise funds
Imagine Marketing's IPO plans were shelved in 2022. CEO Sameer Mehta said the company has no pressing need of capital and hence is not doing any roadshows to raise funds. “However, there are some inbound interests from a large global fund, sovereign fund and one strategic investor. It’s still early days and we are not desperate,” he said.
How investors struck gold in the new-age IPO boom
In the last month, several new-age companies backed by venture capital, have or are set to hit the public markets. This has resulted in a gold rush for their investors. Travel tech platform Ixigo is set to go public next week, while insurtech firm Go Digit and coworking startup Awfis have already listed on the exchanges in the past one month. Their investors, including Peak XV Partners, Elevation Capital, ChrysCapital and TVS Capital and A91 Partners, are sitting on multiple returns from some of these investments.
Brands by scions attract VC money; Ola Electric layoffs
Happy Monday! A new wave of brands founded by second generation entrepreneurs is snagging venture capital. This and more in today’s packed edition of ETtech Morning Dispatch.
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VC funds take a shine to new gen’s D2C brands
Direct-to-customer (D2C) startups founded by scions of traditional business families are raking in venture funding across sectors like food, apparel, and wellness. Investors see these entrepreneurs' deep understanding of the business and connections in the supply chain ecosystems as a recipe for modernising legacy businesses.
New-age consumer brands trend on deal street
Uppercase–a luggage brand started by former VIP Industries MD Sudip Ghose–is in talks with Flipkart-backer Accel to raise new capital, sources told us. This would be the 3rd major deal in the space after Peak XV Partners’ Mokobara investment and Lighthouse’s bet on Safari.
Offline stores are trending as new set of D2C firms emerge
Investors and startup founders are noticing a trend: D2C businesses across various sectors, like fashion, electronics, and food and beverage, are opening physical stores (going offline) even after their initial funding round.
Govt needs to boost financial support to startups: Snapdeal founder
Conversations over boosting supply of capital to homegrown startups have come at a time when the startup ecosystem is experiencing a major slowdown. According to Infosys cofounder S Kris Gopalakrishnan, there is significant wealth in the country and family offices or fund managers should allocate at least 15% of their investments to the startup ecosystem as a thumb rule.
VC funding for women-led startups declined in 2023: report
A new report reveals a decline in VC funding for women-led businesses in India. According to WinPe, a non-profit organisation focused on gender diversity in private equity, the share of funding going to female founders dropped to just 9.3% in 2023, compared to 14.7% in 2021.
About 90% of Indian retail market will remain offline: Accel’s Prashanth Prakash
D2C brands, primarily online-first, consider expanding to offline stores as Indian retail market grows to $2.2 trillion by 2030. Reports highlight the rise of omnichannel firms like Nykaa, Lenskart, and the shift towards omnichannel purchases.
Fast fashion brand Newme raises $5 million in funding round led by Fireside
The Bengaluru-based startup, which currently sells its own brand of clothing across both online and offline outlets was founded in 2022. It had in the past raised an undisclosed round of funding from investors such as Aum Ventures, 2am VC and All In Capital, all of whom have participated in the current round.
The Baker’s Dozen raises Rs 33 crore in funding round led by Wipro Consumer VC unit
The funds will be used to enhance distribution growth, expand reach into non-metro cities and international markets. It will be also employed for brand-building and marketing initiatives.
Mental health startup Amaha raises Rs 50 crore in funding round led by Fireside Ventures
Founded in 2016, Amaha Health operates three different physical centres of business across Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi NCR. It runs these centres with over 150 therapists and psychiatrists on its rolls, Amaha’s founder and CEO Amit Malik told ET.
Beauty brand Pilgrim’s revenue grows four-fold, losses triple
The D2C personal care brand’s net loss tripled as expenses almost touched Rs 100 crore.
Ayurveda-focused D2C startup Nat Habit raises $10 million led by Bertelsmann
The company has previously raised about $7 million in total. From the current funding, about $2 million will be used for early-stage investor exits, in about 5X returns in four years. Its other past investors include Peak XV Partners, formerly Sequoia India and Southeast Asia.
The Sleep Company raises Rs 184 crore from Premji Invest, Fireside Ventures
The sleeping products maker started building its retail store network a year ago and today has 60 stores across 20 cities. It plans to take its store count to 100 by the end of the financial year.
The Sleep Co raises Rs 184 crore from existing investors
The four-year-old startup had raised Rs 177 crore from Premji Invest and Fireside Ventures in November 2022 in its series B round. The Sleep Company sells products such as mattresses, recliner beds, sofas, chairs, beddings and cushions.
Fireside Ventures sells 1.9% stake in Honasa Consumer for Rs 230 crore
Through the sale, the VC fund bagged about Rs 230 crore. As of September end, Fireside held 7.57% in the company. Meanwhile, Norges Bank on account of The Government Pension Fund Global has picked up 0.77% in Honasa Consumer, according to exchange data.
Honasa Consumer jumps 6% after Fireside Ventures sells partial stake in Mamaearth parent via block deal
The price action was supported by strong volume action as nearly 76 lakh shares traded on the NSE around 9:40 am. Brokerage house Jefferies has retained a buy rating on the stock for a target of Rs 530.
VC fund Fireside Ventures to sell 1.9% stake in Mamaearth parent via block deal: Report
The VC firm is offering 61 lakh shares or 1.9% stake in the personal care products maker. The deal is expected to be worth Rs 230 crore. The floor price for the sale is set at Rs 368.7-384.1 a share, representing upto 4% discount from the current market price.
Medical tech startup Inito raises $6 million in funding round led by Fireside Ventures
The Bengaluru-based company, launched in 2015, helps women track fertility hormones and provides personalised analytics on reproductive health through its flagship product, the Fertility Monitor.
Mamaearth IPO turns spotlight on those counting riches, blessings
Fireside Ventures, the earliest institutional investor in the omnichannel retailer, cumulatively invested Rs 29.1 crore, and has raised Rs 258 crore from the initial public offering (IPO) alone. The consumer-focussed venture capital firm sold Honasa Consumer shares worth Rs 547.4 crore, and is still sitting on unsold investments worth Rs 821.49 crore.
'Varun & I have built Honasa with love and governance.' Mamaearth IPO hits Dalal St, founder Ghazal Alagh quotes Robert Frost to describe entrepreneurial journey
Ghazal Alagh quoted Frost's famous lines to describe her journey, partner Varun retraced the "2500 days of building".
Mamaearth parent Honasa Consumer to launch IPO on October 31
The company plans to issue fresh shares worth Rs 365 crore along with an offer-for-sale (OFS) of 41.25 million shares. This is lower than the initially planned Rs 400 crore fresh issue and an OFS component of 46.82 million shares.
Snacking brand Sweet Karam Coffee secures $1.5 million in funding from Fireside Ventures
Founded by husband-wife duo Anand Bharadwaj and Nalini Parthiban, along with Srivatsan Sundararaman and Veera Raghavan, Sweet Karam Coffee serves filter coffee as well as a range of South Indian sweets and snacks, which it claims are free from palm oil and preservatives.
Ecomm festive sales off to a bright start on deep discounts
The first week of flagship sales in India's ecommerce sector has seen a strong start, with brands and ecommerce platforms reporting better-than-expected sales. Despite concerns over the impact of the 'Shradh' period, which is traditionally a time when Hindus refrain from making purchases, the industry has seen a more than 30% growth in order volume terms between October 7 and 13. Ecommerce platforms have seen gross sales of over $4 billion between October 7 and 14, an increase of 18% from last year. Brands have also experienced significant growth compared to the same period last year.
Pilgrim raises $20 million in funding round led by Vertex Ventures
Pilgrim founder Anurag Kedia said around $14 million of the total round came from a primary share sale, while the rest was in a secondary transaction. The company declined to share details of investors selling shares in the round and its valuation after the round.
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