V3 Ventures has announced the launch of its operations in India, backed by the family-owned investment group Verlinvest. With a corpus of €100 million (around Rs 900 crore), the early-stage investment firm will be investing in India, Europe and the US.
Arjun Vaidya, V3’s cofounder and investment partner, stated that around 30% of the corpus will be invested in India. The firm is bullish on India in the long run and aims to make its first commitment of capital in two years. Verlinvest, V3’s backer, has already invested in Indian companies such as Byju’s, Purplle.com, and Sula Vineyards.
V3 Ventures was established by Vaidya and Lopo Champalimaud, who founded the Europe-based digital beauty-booking platform Treatwell. In India, the investment firm has already invested in Kuku FM, an audio content platform, and Eka Care, a digital healthcare app. Vaidya noted that V3 will focus on backing founders, market size and core metrics in India such as bottom line, customer acquisition cost and more when it comes to early-stage investments.
Arjun Vaidya is an entrepreneur and investor who has vast experience in the areas of consumer healthcare and services. Vaidya established India’s first Ayurvedic D2C brand, Dr Vaidya’s, in 2016 and has since venturing into angel investments and impact venture capital.
With current venture capital funding slowing down, V3 Ventures’ decision to launch India operations is rather impressive. Although businesses are taking a bit more time to conclude, Vaidya remains bullish on India and deals are still happening for fundamentally sound businesses. There is large potential for businesses to grow in the country, and V3 Ventures’ new venture will certainly help start-ups to realize their true potential.
