Fireside Ventures to invest in 20 start-ups in superfoods, fashion segments

Expanding its portfolio across the consumer wallet, early-stage venture investment fund Fireside Ventures is looking to invest in superfoods, personalised beauty, and fashion start-ups from its second fund. The Bengaluru-based firm says these areas will be the new frontrunners in the consumer segment.
 
“The space is currently unexplored and there is an opportunity for a lot of start-ups to enter this business,” said Kanwaljit Singh, Managing Partner, Fireside Ventures.
 
The venture capital (VC) firm is planning to make around 18-20 investments via fund 2 in the range of $4-5 million in each portfolio company across Pre-Series A and Series A stages.
 
Continuing to bet on consumer brands, the VC fund on Monday led a Rs 21 crore Series A round in technology-enabled work wear brand FableStreet. Uber India and South Asia President Pradeep Parameswaran, Deutsche Bank MD and technology head Dilip Khandelwal and RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group (FMCG) CEO Suhail Sameer also participated in the round.
 

“We, at Fireside, believe that personalisation and technology-driven business models will be the new frontrunners in the consumer segment and are pleased to support FableStreet to provide quality and premium work wear to women,” said Dipanjan Basu, Partner and CFO at Fireside Ventures. Basu is also joining the board of FableStreet as part of the deal.
 
This is the third investment by Fireside Ventures from its second fund. Apart from FableStreet, it has already invested in yoga and wellness start-up Sarva and a menstrual health-focused personal care brand Gynoveda from fund 2. It had last month announced the first close of its $100-million second fund, anchored by Indian and global investors. The total commitments for the second fund have crossed $60 million to date.
 
L’oreal has come on board as a limited partner in fund 2, while most of current investors have also participated, said Fireside Ventures, without revealing any other specific names. Fireside fund 1 is anchored by a slew of marquee investors including Premji Invest, Westbridge Capital, Mariwala Family Office, Unilever Ventures, Emami, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Family Office, Sunil Munjal’s Hero Enterprise Investment Office and ITC. Its current portfolio of 20 diverse brands includes Yoga Bar, Samosa Singh, Design Café, Bombay Shaving Company, and Mama Earth. One of Fireside’s early investment, Kwik 24 was acquired by Big Basket last year.
 
“We are excited to partner with Fireside in this journey to scale FableStreet. Since launch, we have seen massive product acceptance, globally, and our ‘My Style, Your Fit’ concept to offer bespoke fits has to be the real differentiator,” said Ayushi Gudwani, Founder and CEO, FableStreet, the latest portfolio company of Fireside.