Wipro Consumer Care VC plans exits, sharpens focus on packaged foods

It has raised a second fund of ₹250 crore, and will make three to four new investments every year, a senior company official said.

Wipro Consumer Care Ventures began investing from its first fund in 2019-20, and has a portfolio of around 15 companies. Some of its initial bets include male-grooming startups such as Ustraa and LetsShave. It has since exited these two companies.

“This year we have done three investments—we will do another, maybe spill over to the next calendar year. For the next one year, we will look at a couple of exits—that’s our focus for next year. We did one exit in Ustraa when it folded into VLCC—we did a part exit; we have some stake in VLCC via Ustraa," Sumit Keshan, managing partner at Wipro Consumer Care Ventures, told Mint in an interview.

"We were the only investor which has exited MyGlamm (Good Glamm Group) and made money. I’ve not been doing exits, honestly. When you are early in a fund, you look at building the portfolio."

The fund has typically invested in an average of three companies per year, gradually expanding into sectors like wellness, packaged foods, and pet care. Starting with an average ticket size of ₹12-13 crore, the company’s investments have now moved up to ₹10-25 crore. It typically picks up sub-20% stake in the startup it backs.

The venture capital (VC) firm will focus more on packaged foods going forward, after leading an investment in health food brand Anveshan earlier this year, Keshan said.

Earlier this year, it made its first investment in a pet care brand, Goofy Tails, marking its third investment of the year. The first fund of ₹200 crore was fully deployed as of this year, while investments from the second fund ( ₹250 crore) will commence early next year.

Earlier this year, the fund—which has primarily backed very early-stage companies for nearly a decade—changed track, with a focus now on more mature stages pre-Series A and Series A rounds.

“In the last five years, while building the portfolio we have expanded in terms of the stage of company we want to look at. Secondly, earlier we were doing more personal care, male grooming and stuff, but now we’re doing a lot of food investments. We have done Let’s Try, The Baker’s Dozen along with Anveshan and pet care," he added.

M&As, and market outlook

Keshan also oversees mergers and acquisitions (M&As) for the core FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) business, where the company is actively building a foods portfolio. It sells the popular Santoor brand of soaps.

Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting clocked revenues of ₹10,625 crore in 2024-25, up 3.40% from the year prior.

The consumer goods firm also has an active M&A trajectory—it has invested over $1 billion in acquiring brands in various markets over the past two decades, both in India and abroad. In April 2023, it acquired Kerala-based packaged foods brand Brahmins, which offers breakfast pre-mix powders, spice mixes, pickles, and dessert mixes. In the same year, it acquired personal care brands Jo, Doy, and Bacter Shield from VVF (India) Ltd.

“We are quite open to acquiring companies in skincare, packaged foods, fragrances because we have Yardley—these are areas we are very open to," he added.

Keshan said early-stage deal flow has not slowed.

“Action is very high, people are busy, and that continues. Investments at later stage have come down, the mega deals have come down. Those are linked to broader macro-factors. But where we focus on, I think the pipeline is strong and activity is large. We would like to do three to four investments a year," he added. "Consolidation will happen from the startup perspective because we also would look at exits. As you look at exits, unless you’re large enough for an IPO, you either look at a larger PE (private equity) or a strategic… so all possibilities are open."

In March 2022, it also invested in DSG Consumer Partners Fund IV, a consumer-focused venture capital fund based in Singapore, as an LP (limited partner).