There is competition with FreshToHome lysius –
who turned unicorn on tuesday – In India’s direct-to-consumer (D2C) meat and seafood space.
Gaurav Sharma, Head of Private Equity at Investcorp India, said Investcorp is currently managing private equity investments of around $300 million in India, most of which was done in the last 18 months.
The firm, which focuses on private equity, real estate, credit management and full return investing, plans to more than double that amount as it seeks to capitalize on India’s digitization drive, which has been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. accelerated by the pandemic.
“I would say that in the next three to four years we want to more than double the assets under management and at least invest close to $400-500 million in India,” Sharma told Reuters.
Investcorp said in a study that India saw the rise of 15 so-called unicorns—startups with a valuation of over $1 billion—in the first half of the year alone. Indian food delivery startup Zomato. With this the country is also seeing a strong appetite from public investors.
raise $1.3 billion In an initial public offering (IPO) which was oversubscribed 38 times.
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Licious has raised $52 million at a valuation of over $1 billion, led by a private equity fund from IIFL Asset Management. This makes it the first direct-to-customer company to join the unicorn club and the first meat delivery startup in India.
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Sharma said Investcorp was working with a global investment bank to raise primary capital for Fresh TwoHome, a direct-to-consumer meat and seafood retailer aimed at the United Arab Emirates. and to expand to other markets such as Saudi Arabia.
“We are expecting a big mark-up for our investment… Revenue has literally doubled through COVID-19, and valuations have gone up too… so we are already a unicorn-plus for this investment. Startup can be seen. “, he said.
Investcorp
Investment as part of a $121 million funding round with other investors in the firm in November last year. Sharma said the new funding could exceed $200 million, while an IPO — not currently on the cards — could be considered in about two years.
“While public investors would like to support a company like FreshToHome, there is also a larger ESG (environmental, social and governance) angle”, he said.