/
•
•
Context is everything.
Detailed stories on technology startups, business and economic current affairs.
Detailed stories on technology startups, business and economic current affairs.
Kanwaljit Singh on what it takes to succeed as a new-age consumer business in India and how Fireside Ventures remains enthusiastic about boutique brands six years on.
Editor's note: Seated in his simple yet elegant home office in Bengaluru's Whitefield locality, Kanwaljit Singh is a picture of calm. The distant roar of jets rehearsing for the upcoming Aero India show seemingly poses no distraction. The Fireside Ventures founder, sporting a grey turban and a blue check shirt, chats like he has all the time in the world. A few minutes into our conversation, Singh makes himself some tea—“Turmeric Spiced” from his portfolio company Vahdam Teas, he tells me. His relaxed demeanour could be because he has just closed a $118 million second fund for Fireside, an early-stage venture capital fund for consumer brands. Or because one of his portfolio companies, audio and wearables maker boAt, has just raised $100 million, allowing a partial exit for Fireside. Singh won’t say how much money he made, but you can bet that it was nothing to sneeze at. An exit like that is validation for someone who started out just about six years ago. In 2015, Singh had launched Fireside as a family office, to make personal investments in the consumer space—something …
Back-to-back strong quarters have reset expectations for the beauty and personal care company. Has the Mamaearth parent truly left its troubled past behind?
The hydration and energy supplements brand has cracked a niche and scaled fast. The harder task now is sustaining growth as the market matures.
A little over a decade after it was founded, the company that introduced India to Greek yogurt has pulled off a turnaround. But competition is rising fast and Epigamia can’t afford to simply rest on its laurels.
