Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) focused-VC fund, Fluid Ventures floated by Amit Singal and Dhianu Das announced the final close of its debut fund at Rs 50 crore.
The fund announced its first close in June 2021 and has seen participation from 35+ limited partners (LPs) that are high net-worth CXOs and successful founders/entrepreneurs from India and internationally, with 80 percent being the first-time investors in a SEBI-registered AIF, it said in a press statement.
The fund, with an initial target of 45 crores, received investor commitments of Rs 50 crores and utilized the green shoe option, it said.
The fund has already invested in six companies in the last three quarters, which include Fabriclore (e-retailer for fabric), Shumee Toys (sustainable wooden toys brand), WallMantra (home décor brand), Eske (luxury lifestyle brand), Raskik (coconut infused beverages) and Masterchow (Chinese condiment and sauce brand).
Fluid Ventures, a D2C-focused fund investing in emerging consumer brands, writes a cheque of Rs 1.5 - 3 crore, with a significant portion being allocated for follow-on rounds. With its thesis revolving around D2C products, the fund will be investing in 8-10 more growth-stage startups over the next two years, the statement said.
Amit Singal, Founding Partner, said, “Closing a debut fund successfully with new-age investors in such uncertain COVID times was challenging, but it also gave us an experience of our lifetime. We are looking for products made for Bharat by introducing D2C 2.0 ‘accessible to all’, where the products are available to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities as well.”
With an abundance of capital available in the market today, founders always value smart capital with strong experience and a network that can help them in the initial years. “Keeping investee companies our priority, we spend significant time with our founders to help them and their teams accelerate this growth by nurturing them in the best possible direction,” said Dhianu Das, General Partner, Fluid Ventures.
Akshay Grover, Investment Lead, added, “Our focus is to partner with founders that are analytical and can think out-of-the-box when it comes to marketing endeavours in building world-class brands.”
Among its six portfolio companies, two have already raised the follow-up investments and three portfolio companies have been shortlisted for Amazon's Global Selling Propel Accelerator Season 2, it said.
