An Optimistic Investor Arjun Vaidya, co-founder, V3 Ventures believes that there is a lot of growth outside the top 5 cities which just cannot be ignored
By S Shanthi
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Arjun Vaidya, co-founder, V3 Ventures is not a big fan of the term, 'funding winter'. "I will lie if I say that the pace of investing is a little slower but, there is a lot of capital available in India. I would argue that India is one of the few countries that is somewhat insulated from this global downturn," he says. He, thus, believes that good businesses in India will still attract a serious amount of capital.
Vaidya and his team have not re-calibrated valuations because of the market conditions.
We invest for the long term and across cycles hence, changing strategy basis the market is not something that I actively subscribe to.
Further, crisis or no crisis, Vaidya stays excited about certain themes across the consumer landscape. "India has the world's youngest population and the 2nd largest middle-class population. Aspiration is building rapidly in this target group and we will see a lot of premiumization. There is a lot of growth outside the top 5 cities which just cannot be ignored. In our portfolio, Kuku FM is a great example of this," he says.
While a lot of work has already been done in this category, 'health and wellness', he believes still has a lot of headroom for growth, particularly in research-based proprietary products. Also, 'home and kitchen' is a category that he bets on.
"This is a space that I believe has seen the least disruption from new-age brands. I hope to see brands disrupt design and utility across home décor and appliances as we go through the next decade," he says.
Other than these, he thinks there will be some strong growth in sports & fitness, the pet space and quick service restaurants category, as in his words "the railroad has been laid by Swiggy and Zomato".
Overall, he believes that t is a great time to be a brand builder in India. "The advice I can give to founders is – to build sustainably. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will brands. It is a marathon and not a spring. Hence, businesses with healthy P&Ls and strong unit economics will be the first to get investor interest."
FACTSHEET
- Focus sectors: Consumer brands, tech, enablers & platforms
- Fund Size: EUR 100m with roughly 1/3rd allocated to India
- Ticket Size: 5-30 Cr in the first investment
