Bengaluru: The revenues of the companies backed by Fireside Ventures, an early-stage investor focused on consumer brands, have increased nearly six-fold since the first investment, while valuations have increased more than three-fold, according to a top executive.
The firm recently announced the first close of its second fund, which has a target of $100 million. The total commitments of Fireside Fund II, anchored by Indian and global investors and institutions, have crossed $60 million to date, the Bengaluru-based firm had said. French personal care company L’Oréal’s corporate venture capital fund also invested an undisclosed amount in Fireside's second fund. Mint had first reported about Fireside’s plans for its second fund, in August.
Kanwaljit Singh, managing partner of Fireside Ventures, said on Monday that the fund has made three investments so far, from the new fund and are looking to back 18-20 companies from the second fund, over the next three to four years.
The first investment from Fireside Fund II was Gynoveda, a women's health and wellness startup. The firm then backed yoga and wellness startup Sarva, that boasts of several celebrities among its investors, including global music and entertainment icon Jennifer Lopez. Last week, Sarva said it has raised ₹20 crore in its first institutional round of funding led by Fireside Ventures.
Premium work wear brand FableStreet is the VC firm's third investment. On Monday, the company said it raised ₹21 crore in a Series A round, led by Fireside Ventures.
Ayushi Gudwani, founder and CEO of FableStreet, told Mint that there is great appeal for the custom fits that her company offers. "We will use the funds to scale up our existing apparel business, add more categories and invest in talent and technology," she said. The company now has around 100 employees and plans to increase its headcount.
FableStreet also plans to enter offline retail with brand-owned stores in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. "We will start with those and eventually expand... and explore other formats to build our retail presence," she said.
Fireside Ventures has invested in 21 companies so far. Singh added that they still have around 20% of the total amount raised for the first fund, left "in reserve", which they will use for follow-on investments. Their first fund had a corpus of ₹340 crore and was backed by FMCG brands such as Unilever Ventures, Emami Ltd and ITC Ltd.
Fireside typically invests $4-5 million in each portfolio company across Pre-Series A and Series A stages. Singh had earlier said that that they are expanding their portfolio into new brands in segments such as superfoods, personalised beauty, fashion and personal care.
Companies it has backed include boAt audio, Mama Earth, Vahdam Teas, Samosa Singh, Design Café, Alpha Vector (Frog Bikes), Yoga Bar and Bombay Shaving Company. One of Fireside’s early investments, Kwik 24, was acquired by BigBasket last year.
Fireside Fund I was anchored by marquee investors including Premji Invest, Westbridge Capital, Mariwala Family Office, Unilever Ventures, Emami Ltd., RP-Sanjiv Goenka Family Office, Sunil Munjal’s Hero Enterprise Investment Office and ITC Ltd.
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