Early-stage consumer-focused venture capital firm Sauce.vc has picked up a stake in GRM Foodkraft Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of homegrown fast-moving consumer goods maker GRM Overseas Ltd.
Mumbai-listed GRM Overseas said in a stock-exchange filing it has sold a stake of more than 3% in the subsidiary to the VC firm for an undisclosed amount. Sauce.VC has also acquired an additional 1% stake in Foodkraft from other shareholders. The identity of the shareholders was not disclosed.
“We intend to work with the Sauce team to identify emerging areas for launching new brands in packaged foods and to explore deepening our presence in digital channels including e-grocers, quick commerce, and e-commerce,” said Atul Garg, managing director, GRM Overseas.
Foodkraft was founded in 2019 and is based in New Delhi. It sells a variety of basmati rice, wheat flour and other food products. It has a presence in online and offline retail as well as the direct-to-consumer (D2C) segment. It claims to have around 52 distribution centres (DCs), serving more than 1,60,000 neighborhood retail stores.
GRM Overseas was founded in 1974 and was initially set up as a rice processing and trading house. It now has three rice processing units and sells products under its brands 10X, Himalaya River and Tanoush. It also sells products through private label arrangements under customers’ brands. The company claims to have a presence in 42 countries.
“Foodkraft has established strengths in supply chain and distribution in packaged foods and staples. We aim to utilise this know-how and distribution reach to launch new food brands in new categories,” said Manu Chandra, founder and managing partner, Sauce.vc
Sauce, founded by Manu Chandra, invests in food and beverage, personal care and lifestyle segments. The firm counts startups like Mokobara, XYXX, Innovist, Hocco Ice Creams and The Whole Truth Foods as part of its portfolio.
In 2022, it marked the final close of its second India-focused fund. The fund, which had a target corpus of Rs 120 crore, was oversubscribed. The quantum at which the firm closed its second was, however, not disclosed.