India and Southeast Asia-focused venture fund Venturi Partners has launched its second fund with a targetted corpus of $225 million including a hard cap of $250 million. Hard cap in venture capital and private equity refers to the maximum amount of money a fund or startup will accept from investors during a fundraising round.
The upcoming fund by Venturi Partners will continue to focus on consumer brands in high-growth sectors such as retail, education, healthcare, and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG).
Founded in 2020, the VC firm is looking to mark the first close of the new fund by the second quarter (April-June) of the current calendar year, with visibility towards $130 million, backed by continued support from its existing investors.
In April 2022, Venturi had raised $180 million from prominent families in Europe & Asia. Its first fund has invested in seven consumer startups in education, F&B subscription, beauty & personal care, retail, and home interiors.
The portfolio includes Livspace, Country Delight, Believe, Pickup Coffee, DALI, K-12 Techno and JQR.
“We take an active ownership approach with our portfolio companies, working closely with founders to help unlock growth and scale their businesses. With this second fund, we are excited to continue partnering with ambitious entrepreneurs across the region,” said Nicholas Cator, Founder of Venturi Partners on the new fund.
Consumer businesses in India continue to post robust long-term growth potential backed by favourable demographics, growing purchasing power, and rising consumer preferences for experimenting with innovative and Made in India brands.
2024 was a pivotal year for India’s consumer landscape, marked by strategic shifts in target segments, distribution models, and growth approaches, according to a report by early-stage venture fund Elevation Capital in December last year.
Indian consumers across income groups are demonstrating the willingness to spend more for access to high-quality products and services in beauty, home, lifestyle, food, and more driven by three key shifts viz., first, the shift to visual-first & short-duration content on social media has improved product discovery and awareness with targeted offerings.
Second, organized supply chains (global and increasingly local) have made high-quality products consistently accessible to all corners of India; and third, the growth of e-commerce and quick commerce platforms has made it viable to serve specialized consumer cohorts with targeted offerings.