The vision is to encourage more entrepreneurs in this space and support companies from an early stage.
RPSG Capital Ventures, an early-stage consumer venture capital fund, today announced the companies that are a part of its first-of-its-kind D2C accelerator held in partnership with Little Black Book (LBB). The seven Basecamp companies are eligible for an initial seed investment of up to INR 1.5 crore.
The goal of the accelerator is to support a community of entrepreneurs who are on a mission to create world-class consumer brands for millennial customers. RPSG Capital Ventures plans on doing more such D2C accelerators over the next two years. Few of these companies are expected to be eligible for future investments to the tune of USD 4-5 million each. The vision is to encourage more entrepreneurs in this space and support companies from an early stage.
As a leading consumer VC fund, RPSG Capital Ventures typically invests in Series A rounds in the D2C ecosystem including food and beverage, personal care, and lifestyle goods. RPSG Capital Ventures has earlier backed leading D2C brands including The Souled Store, mCaffeine, Vedix and SkinKraft, among others.
Companies selected as part of the accelerator are also eligible for distribution, marketing and brand building support from LBB; and mentorship from leaders in the consumer space. The first cohort of the accelerator includes CurryIt, Born Good, Eat with Better, Bartisans, Plow, House This and Vivinkaa.
Speaking about this, Abhishek Goenka, Head & CIO, RPSG Capital Ventures, said, “At RPSG Capital Ventures, we back high-potential early-stage brands that are making in India and catering to the world. Till date, we have a 90% success rate in our portfolio, with c.100% of the revenues in our portfolio coming from online channels. We aim to extend these established playbooks to the cohort of young startups in our accelerator program and fasten their learning curve. Clean label and sustainability were two key themes we were targeting as part of this cohort and it is really encouraging to see such innovative companies coming to fore. As investors, we are committed to helping them expand and achieve their missions.”
Each of the brands in the accelerator is solving unique and diverse needs. CurryIt has simplified the preparation of signature Indian dishes by turning them into high quality ready-to-cook pastes. Similarly, Born Good is driving sustainability by offering natural, plant based, chemical-free home cleaning and laundry products. Eat With Better is all about clean eating, healthy options focussed currently on jackfruit as an alternate vegan protein. Through Bartisans, a mother-son duo are crafting unique flavours that go well beyond the usual classic cocktail mixers. Plow is building high protein vegetarian foods that suit the Indian taste palate and habits, making healthy eating fun and desi.
Sharing their thoughts, Richa Sharma & Nischal Kandula, Co-Founders of CurryIt, said, “At CurryIt, we want to make cooking easy and enjoyable. Be it delicacies like Dal Makhani, and Hyderabadi Biryani that require elaborate preparations, or the more traditional ones, our ready-to-cook pastes enable just that. They are prepared fresh using finest quality ingredients like Ghee and have no preservatives. So anyone who wants to cook great food at home, #JustCurryIt. We are thankful to RPSG Capital Ventures for choosing us as one of the brands in their premier Basecamp and look forward to building India’s next favourite food brand with them.”
Mohit Belani, Founder, Born Good, said, “Our ingredients are plant-based and we use essential oils to add fragrance to the products. Our home cleaners and laundry products are natural, USDA certified and safe for adults, kids and pets. We have even designed our packaging in a way that it can be reused. Keeping ESG norms in mind, we’re 2X plastic positive.
It is a matter of great pride to be selected for the Basecamp, and we are excited to be partnering with RPSG Capital Ventures on this journey.”
RPSG Capital Ventures is also open to making follow-on investments with the selected companies to help them traverse the highs and lows of their journeys. The fund typically invests upto USD 4mn as the first cheque in digital-first consumer brands and aims to become the value-adding ally of exceptional entrepreneurs looking to transform the Indian consumer landscape.
Source: Business World
