Purplle-Backer Verlinvest To Double Its India Investments

Belgium-based venture capital (VC) firm Verlinvest, which invested in Blue Tokai last month, is looking to double its annual investment in India in three years. 

Verlinvest’s managing director and head of Asia Arjun Anand told Reuters that the VC firm has invested over $110.3 Mn annually in India over the last few years and aims to double this in the next two-three years. Lifestyle and healthcare will be the key focus sectors.

“India is the winning market for Verlinvest in Asia, and we are allocating more resources as returns on investments continue to improve,” Anand was quoted as saying. 

However, he also pointed out challenges in the Indian market, including longer time to exit startups and rupee depreciation, which negatively impacts returns.

Despite this, Anand said that India “offers a much greater growth opportunity and that makes returns attractive”. 

Verlinvest entered India about 15 years ago. The VC firm has backed Indian startups like Purplle, BYJU’S, Lahori Zeera, Wakefit, Veeba, Epigamia, Ferty9, among others. 

Its most recent Indian bet was speciality coffee chain Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters when it led its $35 Mn Series C funding round. 

Besides its startup bets, the Belgian firm also backed early stage VC fund V3 Venture, which launched its India operations in April last year. The fund is eyeing making cumulative investments of 100 Mn euros (about INR 896.5 Cr) in India, Europe, and the US.

The fund, which is helmed by Arjun Vaidya, invests primarily in pre-Series A and Series A rounds in consumer centric brands. Its average ticket size is in the range of $1-$5 Mn. Since inception, V3 Ventures has backed Kuku FM, Eka.care, Entri, Go Zero, Dil Foods. 

Anand’s comments come at a time when the Indian startup ecosystem is seeing renewed investor interest. As per Inc42’s ‘Indian Tech Startup Funding Report, Q3 2024′, the first three quarters of 2024 saw Indian startup funding zoom 20% year-on-year to $8.7 Bn from $7.2 Bn in the corresponding period a year ago. The deal count also grew to 766 deals from 691 deals in 2023.

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