Shopify Ventures

Most successful founders agree that in their journey from 0 to 1 their mind swayed in all directions every single day. The ideas they generated needed validation before they could put those to execution. They were also aware that meaningful validation would come only from people who knew more, simply because they had been in the situation more and done more themselves. In fact, we strongly believe, seeking validation does not label a founder as incompetent. It instead suggests that the founder is open to accepting criticism, learning fast from feedback, fixing what needs fixing and getting better every single day. What do the founders really need? Having built several consumer brands ourselves and worked closely with over a hundred early-stage founders, we saw a clear need for the founders to scratch their perpetual itch but with the help of meaningful domain and industry experts. We realised, the time was apt to give back. With this in mind, was born Startup Sherpas - a mission to give back to the buzzing ecosystem of consumer goods and D2C startups in India. With the country’s D2C market set to explode beyond a $100 bn by 2025, backed by strong macroeconomic tailwinds, there isn’t a better time to build consumer businesses that can become behemoth brands in the future.

Our approach keeps founders at the heart of everything we do. We areConviction-led: We value independent decision-making and lead all our investments. Long-term partners: We stay fully committed to founders' vision, no matter how long it takes. Sector specialists: We each focus on specific sectors to build a deep, informed point of view that fuels our investment strategy and portfolio support. Transparent: We keep founders in the loop and prioritize honest communication, making us partners they never have to second-guess. Engaged: We believe in staying actively involved through meaningful board participation and functional support. Our journey started like many other startups – in a Bengaluru basement 2016 When we set out to raise our first fund, the Indian VC landscape was shaky at best. Investors were cautious, several foreign VC majors had left the ecosystem, and successful exits were hard to come by. Amidst skepticism about the Indian market, we defiantly believed that the "golden decade" of Indian technology was upon us. We saw an opportunity for VC 2.0 in India – one that was stage-focused, expertise-driven, and committed to prioritizing real growth alongside valuations. Undeterred by a tough fundraising climate, we knocked on 1,200 doors to raise Stellaris’ first fund. These early struggles shaped Stellaris’ culture, allowing us to fully resonate with the fundraising challenges faced by early-stage entrepreneurs. 2017 We launched our first fund of $90 million. From the outset, we established a principle of having specialists on our team, enabling us to tap into deep sector knowledge, spot promising opportunities, and provide tailored support to the companies we backed. Out of our 19 investments in our first fund, 9 surpassed a valuation of $100 million, with several others on track to achieve this milestone. 2021 We closed our second fund of $225M and backed 25 companies, many of which are poised to become the leaders of tomorrow. We also had our first significant exit in the portfolio when 6Sense, a US SaaS company, acquired Slintel, in which Stellaris was the first institutional investor. 2023 Our portfolio company, Mamaearth, which we backed at the Series A stage in 2018, successfully completed its IPO. 2024 We launched our third fund of $300M and are now managing over $600M in assets. We're ready to support the next wave of innovative businesses with the same grit and determination that brought us here.

Tengelmann Ventures is an early-stage Venture Capital firm focused on empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs on their mission to (i) preserve life and environment, (ii) simplify everyday life and (iii) individualize products and services to changing needs. Founded in 2009, Tengelmann Ventures invests primarily in consumer-centric B2C and B2B businesses within the DACH region. TENGELMANN STANDS FORCONSUMER KNOWLEDGE: Decades of experience in dealing with consumers. SUSTAINABILITY HERITAGE: Taking responsibility for sustainability: a track-record in addressing sustainability matters from early days. ENTREPRENEURIAL DNA: An entrepreneurial platform providing freedom and patience – dedicated to long-term growth. EXTENSIVE NETWORK: An extensive high-caliber network of entrepreneurs, advisors and leaders, particularly in Europe and North America. PATIENT CAPITAL: A family business thinking in generations and therefore long-term orientation. ACTIVE INVESTOR: The aspiration to act as an active entrepreneurial partner.

Early-stage venture firm led by experienced investors with a passion for consumer businesses. Your First Institutional Investor: We invest in exciting consumer businesses (& their enablers) from Seed to Series A. Lead with Conviction: We lead rounds; we don’t borrow conviction from others. Sector Focus: Digital Consumer businesses and their Enablers Ticket Size: 'First cheque' sizes of INR 10-150 million Subsequent Rounds: We have reserved significant capital for follow on investment in our portfolio companies Partner of Choice: We’ve been helping founders build businesses through good times and bad for two decades The Story behind the People We have 30+ years of cumulative experience managing third-party capital Partners in several consumer journeys at multiple stages across categories. We have professionally and personally invested across 20+ consumer businesses from seed stage to growth. We believe in marrying rigor with agility and are deeply engaged in value creation with our founders. We are looking to play the long game with people willing to play the long game. PRATH is a labor of love for us to translate our passion for consumer investing into an institution, that we hope, will far outlive and outshine us.

Delivery Hero Ventures' mission is to support the next generation of founder-led technology companies that are disrupting some of the most fast-moving industries around the world. Our StrengthsLeveraging Delivery Hero’s unique ecosystem Global approach and mindset Founder-centric philosophy Support through the lifecycle Active value creation Our FocusInternet: E-commerce, marketplaces, direct to consumer B2B: Digital enablement, food supply chain, retail automation Fintech: Digital payments, financial inclusion

Our investment package includes a tailored 6-month program designed exclusively for our startups, providing essential tools for scaling within our asset management framework. REASONS TO JOIN THE NCA STARTUP PROGRAM: Product Market Fit: Easy testing with best-in-class commerce industry-related corporates assures working business models for our portfolio companies. Coaching: Coaching & support from passionate and experienced people. They’ve built companies before and are experts in their respective fields. Funding: NCA invests up to EUR 125k in each startup. Additionally, founders get prepped for follow-on investment. We become long-term partners for startups beyond our 6-month program. Ecosystem: Become part of an exclusive ecosystem. The mix of industry experts and like-minded startup founders defines the NCA network.