Homegrown private equity firm Lighthouse has made its first transaction of the year by investing Rs 200 crore ($27 million) in gifting platform Ferns N Petals, two persons familiar with the deal told VCCircle.
When contacted, both parties confirmed the development.
“Gifting is all about ‘delight’and at FnP we are committed to offering the best curated experience to their customers and their loves ones. We are very excited to partner with Lighthouse and look forward to learning from their deep consumer insights, developed through a focused investment approach,” said Vikaas Gutgutia, founder and MD at Ferns N Petals.
The company plans to primarily use the funding for technology upgradation.
Ferns N Petals, which started with a single store in 1994, has grown into a reputed brand entailing 11 verticals. The company has presence in around 400 outlets in more than 125 cities pan India.
Besides India, the company has also widely penetrated into Dubai, Singapore, Doha and plans to expand into Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, UK and Russia, in the nearby future.
The company claims to have generated net sales of nearly Rs 400 crore during fiscal year 2020-21 and on track to close the current financial year with nearly Rs 600 crore in sales, despite pandemic disruption.
“Gifting is a large but highly fragmented market in India. Online gifting has hardly scratched the surface and has huge headroom to grow, with digital tailwinds supporting such growth,” said Sachin Bhartiya, founding partner at Lighthouse Advisors.
Founded in 2006 by Sachin Bhartiya, Sean Sovak and Mukund Krishnaswami, the private equity firm is investing from its third fund that marked the final close at Rs 1,750 crore ($250 million), including a pool of capital for co-investment opportunities, in May 2019.
Lighthouse focuses on consumer-centric sectors such as healthcare, food and beverages, personal care, building materials, consumer durables, logistics and financial services.
The PE fund had in August 2021 invested in publicly-listed Shaily Engineering Plastics Ltd along with White Oak Capital Management.
The fund early the same month did a follow-on funding round in ethnic snacks maker Bikaji Foods International Ltd which is now headed for bourses.
Lighthouse also had invested in a publicly listed healthcare company last year. It counts among its portfolio firms mattress maker Duroflex, footwear brand Aqualite, IPO-bound ethnic retailer FabIndia and listed cosmetics maker Nykaa.
