MUMBAI: FidelisWorld (FW), the Mauritius-based, Asia-focused, technology, media, and entertainment fund has announced its latest sports focused investment – in Wildcraft, a Bengaluru-based pioneer and leader in outdoor gear, apparel and footwear in India.
Neither the quantum of investment made, nor the stakeholding FidelisWorld was taking in Wildcraft were disclosed.
Founded by Siddharth Sood, Gaurav Dublish and Dinesh Kaigonahalli, Wildcraft, which is backed by global venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, is considered India’s first outdoor brand.
Additionally, the recent investment by the Flipkart Group in the company provides it a large distribution platform for its business.
“Wildcraft is a young and fast-growing outdoor and adventure-focused gear, apparel and footwear brand that addresses the strong consumption story for products for the outdoors. Wildcraft’s products are targeted towards solving for the unique outdoor needs, by addressing the region’s unique conditions around weather, terrain and distances. We are confident that Wildcraft has what it takes to replicate its formidable domestic position in this space globally. We are excited to be a part of this growth story and look forward to working with the Wildcraft team.” said Rajeev Kalambi, principal at FidelisWorld, who has joined Wildcraft’s board as director.
“We are thrilled to have FidelisWorld partner with us in our exciting journey,” said Sood and Dublish in a joint statement. “Their financial and operational support will help accelerate Wildcraft’s growth plans.”
For the investment, Spark Capital acted as Wildcraft’s transaction advisors and Argus Partners as Wildcraft’s legal advisors. FidelisWorld used Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas as its legal advisor for the deal.
Wildcraft, which manufactures and retails outdoors themed clothing, footwear, and accessories, has 175 exclusive brand outlets (EBOs) across India. The brand is also present in over 5,000 multi-brand outlets (MBOs) in over 500 Indian cities. Wildcraft has two manufacturing units in Bengaluru and Himachal Pradesh.
Wildcraft also distributes its products to international markets across South Asia, Middle East, and Central Asia and recently did its first tie-up in Europe.
FW’s sports facing subsidiary is FW Sports Investment Fund LP (FSIF), currently has stakes in Smaaash Entertainment, the Indian virtual sports and entertainment company promoted by serial entrepreneur Shripal Morakhia, cricket-focused news website Wisden and Sportz Interactive, a sports-focused data, content, and technology services company.
In March, FW announced its maiden exit. FW fully exited its investment in Technology Frontiers (Techfront) to Emerald Media, the pan-Asia company backed by leading global investment firm KKR, achieving an exit multiple of 2 times invested capital. FW first invested in Techfront in 2014.
Techfront is a leading global provider of in-venue advertising display boards and activation solutions for the sports, media, and entertainment industries. Through its subsidiary ITW, Techfront provides ad syndication services to global brands and advertisers.
