Consumer-focused investor Sauce VC has scored one of its biggest exits yet, pocketing an estimated Rs 500-550 crore from L'Oréal's acquisition of portfolio company Innovist . The deal validates a strategy built around writing small early-stage cheques and aggressively doubling down on winners.
Manu Chandra, a former investor at British private equity firm 3i Group, founded Sauce VC in 2019 with a modest Rs 60-crore fund backed by his life savings of around Rs 10 crore and a conviction in India's emerging consumer brands. Innovist was among the firm's earliest bets. Since then, Sauce VC has built a portfolio spanning Mokobara, The Whole Truth, Supertails and XYXX, while sticking to its follow-on investment playbook.
In February this year, the firm raised a Rs 750 crore opportunities fund to double down on its winners, placing it alongside larger consumer-focused investors such as Fireside Ventures and DSG Consumer Partners.
