Fireside Ventures, an early-stage consumer-focussed investment fund, announced the close of its fourth fund at $253 million (Rs 2,265 crore) on Tuesday.
Fireside has invested in companies like Mamaearth, Boat, Supertails, Newme, Slurrp Farm, Yoga Bar, and others. The firm typically invests in early-stage startups in sectors across pet care, vertical commerce, health and wellness, beauty and personal care, health food, etc.
Fund IV, the venture firm’s largest, has secured commitments from both Indian and global investors. These include US university endowments, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), HarbourVest, Waterfield, Fidelity International, Sharrp Ventures, Mirabilis, Emami Limited, and others.
“Fund IV gives us the opportunity to continue doing what we value deeply — working with founders who are building the next generation of India’s iconic consumer brands,” said Kanwaljit Singh, founder and managing partner, Fireside.
Singh said the new fund will invest in 30–35 startups in total, and aims to do 10–12 deals per year.
With a focus on Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumption patterns, Fireside will continue investing in consumer brands and ecommerce through this fund.
Further, the venture firm will also explore investment opportunities in artificial intelligence (AI) in the consumer space. It currently invests in Newme and Traya, consumer-focussed startups that leverage AI.
Fireside closed its third fund at $225 million in 2022. Prior to that, it closed its second fund at $120 million and first fund at $50 million.
The first Fireside fund, which invested in startups like Mamaearth, Boat, and Yoga Bar, has clocked a distributed-to-paid-in-capital (DPI) multiple of 3.6. Which means the firm has returned to investors more than three times what they invested.
Fireside has partially exited from companies like Mamaearth (whose parent company Honasa Consumer is listed), IPO-bound BoAt, Yoga Bar (acquired by ITC), Bombay Shaving Company, and more.
The firm has over 60 brands in its portfolio valued at over $7 billion, generating over $1.6 billion in revenues. “About 50% of our portfolio companies have crossed Rs 100 crore in annual recurring revenue (ARR),” Singh said.
This comes as consumer-focussed venture capital firms are launching new funds amid strong consumer sentiment. In October, Nikhil Kamath’s investment firm Gruhas, in partnership with talent management company Collective Artists Network, announced the close of their Rs 100-crore maiden fund.
In September, ET reported that Singapore-based consumer-focussed venture capital firm Venturi Partners had announced the first close of their second fund at $150 million. Similarly, in August, Mumbai-based early-stage VC fund Atomic Capital had announced the final close of its first fund at Rs 400 crore.