Private Equity Fund OAKS Asset Management Launches Second Fund With INR 500 Cr Corpus

Indian mid-market private equity fund OAKS Asset Management has launched its second fund, the OAKS India Consumer Fund, an Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) – Category II, registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The fund will have an INR 500 Cr corpus, with an INR 250 Cr green-shoe option. 

In a statement, the company said that the fund will partner with proven founders of consumer businesses, who are demonstrating meaningful revenues and growth in large target markets in a capital-efficient manner. OAKS has previously invested in Hero Electric, India’s largest electric 2-wheeler brand and Foodlink which is the largest luxury banqueting and catering business in India as well as Vini Cosmetics, the makers of Fogg Deodorant and Hardcastle Restaurants, the publicly-listed master franchisee for McDonald’s in South and West India.

The new fund will aim to invest in 10-12 businesses, with an average ticket size ranging between INR 25-100 Cr per investee company. The fund has already received initial commitments worth INR 400 Cr. 

“We are excited to launch The OAKS India Consumer Fund. We have a deep conviction in the Indian consumer story and believe that as a market, India continues to offer simple penetration and growth opportunities. We invest in consumer brands operating in monster markets with significant tailwinds,” said Vishal Ootam, founder and CEO at OAKS Asset Management. 

OAKS’ first fund was launched in 2017 with an INR 700 Cr corpus deployed across five companies, namely Foodlinks, Incred, Credable, Hero Electric and Shree, a women’s ethnic-wear maker.

Indian startups recorded over $11.5 Bn in funding in 2020, which is 10% lower than 2019, but in terms of the number of deals, 2020 easily surpassed the previous year. With 924 deals, the deal count was 14% higher than in 2019. 

While fintech (131), enterprise tech (128) and edtech (101) were the top three sectors in the Indian startup ecosystem in terms of funding deals, in terms of the investment amount, the top three sectors were fintech ($2.1 Bn), enterprise tech ($1.7 Bn) and consumer services ($1.6 Bn), besides hot sectors such as ecommerce fuelled by India’s D2C rush.