Asian private-equity firm Venturi Partners is considering raising a $75-100 million fund in India to invest in local consumer-focused growth-stage companies, managing director Rishika Chandan said in an interview. The fund, likely to be launched later this year, will be pooled from top family offices in India, Chandan added.
“The intention is to give access to Indian families that want to be part of this platform and get access to growth-stage consumer companies because most funds in India [invest mainly in] early-stage [companies],” Chandan said.
According to her, there are several India-focused generalist funds investing in growth-stage consumer companies but not many that cater exclusively to families. “Families need different things. As the fund size becomes larger, they become smaller. So how do they retain? From that perspective, we’re planning to launch a small AIF as well, which will also invest in the companies in India that we do from the Singapore fund.”
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The firm has backed companies such as new-age home furnishing startup Livspace, D2C dairy tech startup Country Delight, and K12 Techno, which runs the Orchid chain of schools. All these investments were from its $180 million Asia fund, in which it has a 1:1 co-investment thesis along with its limited partners (LPs).
“The India AIF (alternate investment fund) will have a similar 1:1 investment thesis for our LPs. We plan to raise anywhere from $75-$100 million towards the first fund,” Chandan told Mint.
Singapore-based Venturi has deployed around 60-65% of its flagship Asia fund in India and the rest has in Southeast Asia, Chandan said. It aims to have a concentrated portfolio of 8-10 companies and thus does only two or three deals a year. Its cheque sizes range from $25-50 million. Next year it will also look to raise a $250-300 million Asia fund, about twice the size of its first fund.
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The fund considers India a high-focus area, given that consumer spending accounts for 60% of GDP and is driving a lot of the growth. That, coupled with the country’s massive demographic dividend, means the opportunity is massive, Chandan said. “We’ve distilled that down to say that there are certain trends that we see emerging from shifting consumption patterns. People are becoming richer, so there is a new cohort of products and services that is likely to emerge in India,” she added. “Those are the sectors we’re spending a lot of time on.”
Chandan said there is also plenty of opportunity in food services – which is seeing increased premiumisaton – and health. “Health is a big vertical for us, but unfortunately we haven’t seen anything of interest yet in the B2C segment,” she added. “We’re looking at elderly care and pet care among emerging segments but it’s slightly early at this point,” Chandan said.
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Published: 26 May 2024, 12:58 PM IST