SAIF Partners India backs Manpasand Beverages

Vishal Sood, a partner at SAIF, noted that the country's juice market is worth INR25 billion ($543 million) and growing at a fast pace. At the same time, rising interest rates have made it more difficult for small companies to tap banks for expansion capital.

Sood added that Manpasand, while small, has a strong distribution network in tier-two and tier-three cities, where consumer demand for packaged foods - as opposed to loosely sold products - is rising.

Private equity firms invested more than $100 million in India's food service industry in the first half of 2011, according to the Franchise India and Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Fast-food and mid-range restaurants proved popular targets, although snack foods and beverages producers - particularly those that offer access to lower-tier markets - are also receiving investments. Prakash Snacks, for example, secured $25-30 million in funding from Sequoia Capital in July.

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• Topics
• Consumer
• South Asia
• Early-stage
• SAIF Partners
• Sequoia Capital