Wipro Consumer Care Ventures launched its Fund II of ₹250 crore with a focus on investing in consumer startups in India and Southeast Asia. The new fund follows the ₹200 crore fund launched four years ago and has made 10 investments to date. 

The second fund, with a corpus size of ₹250 crore, will invest in strong and innovative companies that look to fulfill the needs of consumers, build for the long term, and have a sound governance mindset, said the company.  

Further, it will look for e-comm-driven companies from Pre-Series A onwards, with a minority stake approach (up to 25 per cent), and continue nurturing the startups as required. In addition, focus would be on companies that operate in categories and sub-categories of personal care, skin care, home care, wellness, food, fragrances, BPC, and more, stated Sumit Keshan, Managing Partner, Wipro Consumer Care Ventures.

“Geo coverage would continue to be in India and Southeast Asia, where we feel we can add value beyond providing capital. We have been successful in adding value to our investments by providing support in terms of offline focus, R&D, sourcing (specifically from overseas vendors), helping identify third-party manufacturers, and finance discipline,” he added.  

Meanwhile, the first fund has made a significant performance, with MOIC running at > 2.2x and IRR, which are above market benchmarks. “Till now we have done part exits from two of our investments, and in one of them we have clocked a 10x increase in a short period of time.” 

While a large majority of this fund has been committed, a couple of more new investments would be made from it, as well as a few follow-ups. The company’s portfolio is diverse, with investments in startups in India, Southeast Asia, and a venture capital fund.

“There are current headwinds in the investing space, we feel there is a need for startups to focus on stability and scalability with a clear view to profitability. Look forward to exciting times,” noted Keshan. 

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