Latest news with #FiresideVentures
Entrepreneur
5 days ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Ace Blend Gains Fireside Ventures' Backing to Transform Nutrition Market
Fireside Ventures, known for supporting brands like Mamaearth and BoAT, had been observing Ace Blend's rapid growth before deciding to invest. You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. Ace Blend, a science-led nutrition brand, has secured a pre-series A investment from Fireside Ventures, one of India's prominent consumer-focused venture capital firms. Ace Blend was founded by Shivam Hingorani, who began by closely studying the country's nutrition market. His findings revealed products that offered big promises but delivered little, with questionable claims and low efficacy. In response, Ace Blend developed formulations rooted in over two decades of global research expertise from a leading R&D and product design firm. The brand's approach relies on clinical-grade ingredients and advanced extraction technologies to ensure measurable results. "We are not here to sell hope in a bottle," Hingorani said. "Our mission is to deliver real results. With Fireside's backing and world-class R&D behind us, we are ready to scale and show the country what real nutrition looks like." Saif Mehkri, an R&D specialist who joined as co-founder in 2022, reinforced the focus on credibility. "Every ingredient, every dose, every claim we make is backed by clinical research. Indians deserve health outcomes that they can feel, measure, and trust," he said. Fireside Ventures, known for supporting brands like Mamaearth and BoAT, had been observing Ace Blend's rapid growth before deciding to invest. "India has hundreds of nutrition supplement brands, yet only a few deliver precise dosing, clinically proven efficacy, and full traceability of raw materials," said Dipanjan Basu, Partner and Co-founder at Fireside Ventures. "We believe the next breakthrough will come from premium formulations in convenient formats, and Ace Blend is uniquely positioned to offer that." Ace Blend's financial growth has been striking, rising from INR 1.9 crore to a projected INR 55 crore in three years. The company recorded more than 250 percent growth in its first year, nearly doubled revenue in its second, and expects over four-fold growth this year. The pre-series A round, combined with angel funding, totals USD 3.3 million, with an additional USD 5.7 million anticipated. With this funding, the partnership aims to set new benchmarks in India's nutrition industry, focusing on efficacy, transparency, and consumer trust.
Entrepreneur
06-08-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
D2C Brand The Sleep Company Secures INR 480 Cr to Open Around 150 New Stores
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. The Sleep Company has secured INR 480 crore (about USD 57 million) in a combination of primary and secondary funding, with private equity firm ChrysCapital and 360 One Asset participating in the investment. Early investor Fireside Ventures has made a partial exit through the sale of secondary shares. According to co-founder Harshil Salot, the capital raised is split evenly between the two components, with the primary funds set to be used for strengthening teams and expanding the company's retail presence. The Mumbai-based D2C brand plans to open between 130 and 150 new stores over the next two years. This expansion will build upon its current footprint of 160 outlets spread across 47 cities. The company will focus on growing in metro and tier-I locations while also entering additional tier-II markets. "This investment also represents a compelling opportunity to participate in India's broader premiumisation wave, where consumers are increasingly gravitating towards high-quality, science-led, and design-first products that enhance everyday living," said Rajiv Batra, Director and consumer sector lead at ChrysCapital. Founded in 2019 by Harshil and Priyanka Salot, the company offers a range of products including mattresses, pillows, bedding, cushions, office chairs, recliners, and sofas. It sells through both e-commerce platforms and physical retail stores. Employing about 1,500 people, the brand is also preparing to ramp up hiring in product development and retail functions, with part of the fresh funding directed toward these initiatives. The latest funding round follows a INR 184 crore (USD 22 million) raise in December 2023 from Premji Invest and Fireside Ventures. In 2022, the company had secured INR 177 crore (USD 21 million) in a round led by Premji Invest, with participation from Fireside. The firm is also exploring acquisition opportunities within its sector. Reflecting on the competitive landscape, Priyanka Salot noted that when the company began operations five-and-a-half years ago, new brands were entering the market every few months. Many of these players have since exited or been acquired, and she anticipates that consolidation in the industry will continue. With its recent capital infusion, The Sleep Company aims to reinforce its position in the growing market for premium comfort products in India while extending its retail reach to more consumers nationwide.
Hindustan Times
04-07-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Comfort, convenience drive ready-to-cook food market
In his consumer research in the past two years, Akash Agrawalla, co-founder of spices company ZOFF Foods, discovered that people are keen to compress their cooking time. Working women rushing to their jobs, homemakers keen to savour experiences other than gastronomy and men who turned home chefs during covid lockdowns – all want home-cooked meals but seek convenience in food preparation. Comfort, convenience drive ready-to-cook food market This prodded Agrawalla to join the growing number of big and small companies making ready-to-cook (RTC) food products. Last month, he launched gravies and marinades in partnership with Reliance Retail. 'Convenience is addictive. Look at the success of quick-commerce services. Likewise, RTC foods, which simplify cooking, will grow sharply over the next 5-10 years,' Agrawalla said. A proprietary survey by Fireside Ventures shows RTC product volumes have doubled in the last two years, driven by batters and semi-prepared meals. A June FMCG Pulse study by Kantar reflects similar data. The ready-to-cook (RTC) mixes doubled in volume in the last two years, adding 18 million new households in the period, it said. Category growth was led by batters and mixes. RTC curries added six lakh households in the same period. Batters are fastest growing 'as they give you a dish on the table which is closest to what you would make fresh. It has the taste of home-made food and offers convenience,' observed food scientist Rinka Banerjee, founder of Thinking Forks. She expects expansion of the batter category with the likes of 'chilla' batter (made of gram flour or split green gram) entering the fray. Kantar study said that while RTC grew, the Ready-to-Eat segment – served directly after heating -- lost volume. Ready-to-Eat is losing out to fresh food delivery from restaurants and cloud kitchens, Banerjee said. 'Why would I buy packaged palak paneer or dal makhani when I can get it fresh on the delivery platform in 30 minutes,' she said. Adarsh Menon, partner at Fireside Ventures agreed that consumers like to be involved in the cooking process building a case for RTC. 'Traditional home-cooking is still big but the affluent urban consumers are becoming time poor, hence, seeking ease of cooking. We are very bullish on the entire RTC category,' Menon said. To be sure, RTC products are not new to India with several brands selling ginger pastes and idli-dosa mixes for close to 20 years. Yet the category lacked sizzle. That is beginning to change. 'RTC is poised to take off pushed by more women joining the workforce and our large millennial and GenZ population looking to cook smarter,' said Banerjee. With Indians experimenting with food, they're lapping up RTC aids for dishes from, say, Chettinad to Kolhapur, Banerjee said. 'Besides, there's growing demand for preservative-free, cleaner labels which has been a deterrent for the category in the past,' Banerjee said. Emergence of quick-commerce as a distribution channel has also become an enabler for category growth. 'For RTC, the stars are aligned. The consumer is ready, the channel is established and food companies are giving what people want, that is, healthy and clean RTC products,' Menon said. People want millet batters, high protein breakfasts and low oil curries and are willing to pay a premium for it, he added. Banerjee spots a bigger opportunity for RTC in frozen foods which have ventured beyond the routine snacks like fries to gourmet foods. Meat and seafood brand TenderCuts agreed that the RTC meals market is going through a transformation with customers seeking restaurant-like starters and gravies at home, without compromising on quality, hygiene or freshness of meats. It offers premium, preservative-free, all-natural marinated meats and plans to introduce fusion recipes designed for kids, and high-protein combos for fitness enthusiasts, the company said. Among emerging subcategories in RTC, Fireside Ventures expects proliferation of pre-cut ingredients, marinated proteins, global and regional meal kits, and frozen semi-cooked bundles—all designed to shave off preparation time while preserving the home-cooking experience. In the next three years, Fireside Ventures expects the RTC market to double and RTC products to become a mainstream pantry staple in urban kitchens. It is banking on urban consumers to start using RTC daily rather than weekly, with an increase in rural penetration as cold chains and price points improve. Agrawalla said he expects his pocket-friendly gravies to become a regular habit with Indian consumers as they speed up their homestyle cooking.
The Hindu
30-06-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Lab-grown diamond jewellery start-up Aukera raises $15 million, to expand network
Lab-grown diamond jewellery company Aukera on Monday said it has raised $15 million in growth capital led by Peak XV Partners with follow-on participation from existing investors, including Fireside Ventures, Sparrow Capital, Prath Ventures and Alteria Capital. The investment will accelerate its retail expansion plans and contribute to enhancing product offerings, Aukera said in a release. It has stores in Bengaluru, Delhi NCR and Hyderabad and expanding into new cities. The brand will scale into a Rs.1,000 crore brand in next 5-7 years', founder and CEO Lisa Mukhedkar said.
Time of India
30-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Lab-grown diamond jewellery company Aukera raises $15 million in round led by Peak XV Partners
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills Lab-grown diamond jewellery company Aukera has raised $15 million in its latest funding round led by Peak XV Partners Existing investors Fireside Ventures , Sparrow Capital, Prath Ventures, and Alteria Capital also participated in the will use the funds to double down on its retail footprint and enhance its product offerings by investing in hiring design, merchandising, and marketing talent. Currently, the company has 13 offline stores across Bangalore, Delhi NCR, and Hyderabad. It will be adding two more in the next 10 in 2023 by Lisa Mukhedkar and Kumar Saurabh, Aukera is a Bengaluru-based lab-grown diamond jewellery brand. The latest funding brings the total funds raised by the firm to almost $20 million.'The demand for lab-grown diamonds in India is growing phenomenally,' Mukhedkar told ET. 'Our customers, who started buying from us out of vague curiosity, are now engaging with the brand with an intent to buy backed by trust. We are seeing very high repeat and referral rates. It is between 25 and 30% within a period of six to eight months.'According to Mukhedkar, Aukera is expected to be at a Rs 200 crore annual run rate by the end of this financial year. 'We see ourselves scaling to a Rs 1,000 crore brand in the next five to seven years.'Kanwaljit Singh, founder and managing partner at Fireside Ventures, who is an existing investor in the firm, said, 'With this investment, Aukera is now poised to scale rapidly and set the benchmark for the category.''We are excited to partner with them as they scale Aukera's footprint and deepen the brand's leadership in this emerging category,' Abhishek Mohan, principal, Peak XV Partners, said in a prepared expanding lab-grown diamond industry is emerging as a promising opportunity for both brands and investors. The market, which stood at $299.9 million in 2023, is estimated to reach $1,192.3 million by 2033 at a 14.8% CAGR, according to the Industrial Extension Bureau, which is an investment promotion agency of Gujarat.
