Helion Venture Partners, a USD 350 million India-focussed venture capital fund, has invested Rs 16 crore in Brand Calculus, a start-up venture aiming to bring international chains of quick service restaurant brands in India. Brand Calculus has already introduced Canadian juice and smoothie chain, Jus Booster Juice, in India.
Brand Calculus aims to set up 20 Jus Booster Juice outlets across eight cities in India this year. At present, Brand Calculus operates three outlets across Delhi and Bangalore. Globally, Booster Juices operates over 200 outlets in North America, West Asia, the Netherlands and India.
Kanwaljit Singh, MD of Helion Venture Partners said, “The quick service restaurant space is a very attractive as the format is low capital intensity business. Also, the quick service restaurant market is fragmented in India and we believe that Brand Calculus can be good platform to build large quick service restaurant business in India.”
Helion Ventures is now targeting sectors such as retail services, financial services and education for investments. Recently the company invested Rs 20 crore in Bangalore-based YLG Salon & Spa.
Till date Helion Ventures has invested in several technology-powered and consumer service businesses in sectors like outsourcing, internet, mobile, financial services and technology products. For instance the venture fund has invested in makemytrip.com, SMS GupShup, Amba Research, a provider of investment research support services and Anantara Solutions, an outsourcing firm among others.
According to international research firm Euromonitor, the out-of-home food service business in India is estimated to touch $10 billion in 2009. And organised space, which is registering growth of 20-30 per cent, accounts for 5-10 per cent of the $10 billion business. Brand Calculus aims to cash in on this growing organised food business industry in India by introducing global quick service restaurant brands in India.
However, for now, the company wants to focus on scaling Jus Booster Juice and has no plans of introducing any other brand this year. Fazle A Naqvi, MD of Brand Calculus said, “Jus Booster Juice has huge headroom with more consumers opting for healthy food. Further, there is no national brand in the juice and smoothie space presently in India, so there is a great opportunity to build this.”
Source: Financial Chronicle
