With India becoming the third-largest driver of growth in consumer products among emerging markets, more and more investors are stepping up their bets on consumer tech startups. Venture capital (VC) firm Lightbox India Advisors is currently bullish on consumer businesses that are harnessing emerging technologies, including AI, to create multiplier effect in traditional and new markets.
Specifically, the firm is interested in sectors such as health and wellness, financial services, fintech, renewable energy, sustainability gaming and entertainment, among others. The firm’s portfolio companies include Waycool, Rupeek, Bombay Shirt Company, Droom, Nua, Melorra, Rebel Foods, Furlenco, Rooter among others.
Founded in 2014, the firm has also exited from some notable startups such as Cleartrip, Info Edge, Map My India and Inmobi.
Lightbox has raised three funds so far, aggregating $400 million in assets under management. The size of the next fund will be around $200 million. It is currently investing from its $209 million Fund III and has largely invested the corpus. The firm plans to make follow-on investments in its existing portfolio companies from the reserve capital and may look at 1-2 new investments in consumer tech sectors.
“When we evaluate an investment, we primarily focus on whether the addressable market is large enough to build a scalable business at reasonable unit economics, whether the founding team has the ability to execute, the tenacity to push through the tough times, and finally, technology should play an integral role in building efficiency and differentiation in the business model,” Sandeep Murthy, managing director, Lightbox India Advisors told FE. The firm typically invests anywhere between $5 million and $8 million in a first cheque and up to $20 million over the lifetime of a company. “Valuations are much more favourable for investors today than they were 18-24 months ago. “