In 2014, Manu Chandra made what he describes as the riskiest investment decision of his life — he poured money into fledgling yoghurt brand Epigamia.

The startup behind the brand had no institutional backing, no promise of returns, and Chandra’s decision was purely guided by gut instinct and a belief in India’s rising consumption story. More than a decade later, India’s consumer story has not just held up to this faith — it has grown exponentially.

That early bet set in motion the journey that would culminate in Sauce.vc, one of the most focussed early-stage investors in the Indian consumer brand landscape today.

India is now widely considered the fastest-growing domestic consumption market globally, and this growth is being driven not by legacy players alone, but by a new cohort of digital-first, niche, and purpose-led brands.

This growth is shaped by rising digital access, new consumption habits, and a wave of startups building internet-first brands. According to Inc42’s FAST42 2025 report, beauty and personal care, food and beverage, and fashion are the three largest categories in the D2C ecosystem. For instance, beauty and personal care brands made up 28.6% of pool of applicants for the FAST42 list, followed by food and beverage at 27% and fashion at 25%.

This shift has been mirrored by capital flows. Since 2021, over $5.7 Bn has been invested across 640 deals in India’s D2C startups, according to Inc42 data. Several venture capital firms have emerged with specialised consumer investment strategies, with Sauce.VC among the early movers.

Based in Delhi NCR, Sauce.vc focusses on pre-seed, pre-revenue businesses, backing them early and working closely with founders through the critical zero-to-one journey. Backing these brands—often before they even have revenue—is what Sauce.vc has built its playbook around.

The Rise Of The Specialist Consumer VC

Chandra told Inc42 that Sauce.vc was launched with a sharp and well-defined thesis: invest early — even as early as pre-revenue — into emerging consumer brands, and stay close to founders, not just with capital but operational support.

The firm’s maiden fund was modest by any metric. With a corpus of INR 60 Cr, it was deliberately small, allowing Chandra and his team to test their investment hypothesis without overextending.

It was also intensely personal, the founder said, with INR 10 Cr coming from Chandra himself as a principal contribution. “It was either buy a house or build this fund,” he recalled, adding, “I chose the latter.”

The strategy was high risk: a concentrated portfolio of just a few companies, many of them at idea or prototype stage. Five investments didn’t work out. But four did, and exceptionally well at that.

Sauce.vc’s investments in Mokobara, XYXX, The Whole Truth, and Innovist (the parent company of Bare Anatomy, Chemist at Play, and SunScoop) now accounts for 75% of the first fund’s invested capital.

The 2019 vintage........

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