Consumer-focused early-stage venture capital firm Sauce VC has closed its third fund at Rs 365 crore (approximately $43.6 million). The fund was significantly oversubscribed, reaching three times its target within just four weeks.
Manu Chandra, the founder and managing partner of Sauce VC, expressed his gratitude and apologies in a LinkedIn post, stating, “The fund was oversubscribed by 3x in four weeks and it was overwhelming and tempting to raise more but the right sizing was important. I apologise to all LPs we couldn’t accommodate in this fund.”
The fund has garnered investments from notable entities, including Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan’s family office Pratithi Investments, Marico promoter Harsh Mariwala’s Sharrp Ventures, Singularity Ventures, and Saison Capital. Impressively, 95% of the capital was raised from domestic investors, with nearly 80% coming from existing sponsors of Sauce VC’s previous funds.
Based in New Delhi, Sauce VC invests in innovative consumer brands and platforms at the pre-revenue or idea stage. Since its inception, the firm has invested in 21 companies through its earlier funds launched in 2019 and 2021.
The firm’s investment journey began with its first fund in 2019, targeting a corpus of Rs 60 crore. This was followed by the second fund in 2021, which had a fund size of Rs 158 crore. The latest Sauce Continuity Fund was closed with a corpus of Rs 263 crore.
Sauce VC has already made notable investments from its continuity fund in companies such as XYXX, The Whole Truth Foods, Mokobara, Innovist, and Supertails. Future investment plans include the oral care brand Perfora, the ice cream brand Hocco, and the energy drink Rockit.
The successful closing of Fund III underscores Sauce VC’s strong position in the market and its continued commitment to nurturing and scaling innovative consumer brands in India.
