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Backing India's next generation brands
Managed by Sauce.vc
Private equity, private credit and real-estate funds that don't employ leverage except for operating needs. The largest AIF category.
Sauce Capital Trust III is the maiden Category II Venture Capital Fund (SEBI Reg. IN/AIF1/19-20/0700) managed by Cornucopia Consumer Venture Advisory LLP, operating under the Sauce.vc brand. Founded in 2019 by Manu Chandra, Sauce.vc is a dedicated consumer-focused venture capital firm headquartered in Mumbai (with offices in Delhi NCR), managing committed capital of approximately ₹1,600 crore across six funds. The maiden fund — Sauce Consumer Venture Capital I — was launched with a corpus of ₹60 crore, with Chandra contributing ₹10 crore personally, and is currently tracking a ~70% IRR and 10x MOIC. The firm focuses exclusively on early-stage, often pre-revenue consumer brands across food & beverage, personal care, and apparel/lifestyle. Sauce has backed category-defining companies including Mokobara, The Whole Truth Foods, Epigamia, XYXX Innerwear, Supertails, Perfora, Hocco Ice Creams, and Innovist (Bare Anatomy), most at the idea or pre-seed stage. The investment model combines capital with deep operational engagement: Sauce invests in a concentrated portfolio and works closely alongside founders through the zero-to-one journey. The manager entity Cornucopia Consumer Venture Advisory LLP (LLPIN AAN-8919) was incorporated in January 2019 and has Manu Chandra and Lara Shankar Chandra as designated partners.
Manu Chandra
Founder & Managing Partner
Manu is the Founder of Sauce.vc, backing early-stage consumer businesses and managing committed capital of ₹1,600 crore across six funds. He has been a key investor in the idea-stage to ₹200 crore+ scale-up journeys of brands like Mokobara, Hocco Ice Creams, The Whole Truth Foods, Epigamia, XYXX Innerwear, and Innovist. Prior to founding Sauce.vc in 2019, he was an Investment Director with 3i Group, an FTSE-listed private equity firm. He is a graduate of IIM Ahmedabad, where he was a Ratan Tata Scholar, and holds an earlier degree from IIT/engineering background.
Yash Dholakia
Partner
Yash is a senior member of the investing team at Sauce. An investment professional for nearly a decade, he has a strong passion for consumer brands. He started his career as a marketer building iconic real estate brands, then moved to investing. He was a founding member at Tomorrow Capital, an early-stage consumer-focused VC, where he led investments worth over ₹100 crore in brands like Generico (now Zeno Health), Leverage Edu, Bonito Designs, and BeyondSkool. He previously worked at a family office in Singapore across asset classes in Asia Pacific. Yash is an MBA (PGDM) from IIM Ahmedabad and a Chemical Engineer from ICT Mumbai.
Zoeb Ali Khan
Vice President
Zoeb is a founding member of Sauce.vc. He has experience in consumer and technology startups. Previously he was a Project Manager at Myra, a Matrix Partners portfolio startup, responsible for marketing, branding campaigns, and consumer research. Prior to that, he was an associate at Wingify Software working on CRM and sales automation. He holds a BBS (Finance) from the College of Business Studies, Delhi University.
Padma Milhotra
Senior Associate
Padma joins the investment team as Senior Associate. Prior to Sauce, she was an Investment Associate with Stride Ventures, a venture debt fund, for three years, with experience across consumer and B2B start-ups. She previously worked at PwC in the assurance domain. She is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor's degree from Delhi University.
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Vasundhara Bhagat
Senior Analyst
Vasundhara joins the investment team as Senior Analyst. Prior to Sauce, she worked at Impact Consulting on start-up advisory projects and completed a 6-month internship at Sauce leading strategic initiatives for portfolio companies. She holds a Bachelor's in Economics from Calcutta University.
Chetan Ghodke
Senior Analyst
Chetan joins the investment team as Senior Analyst. Prior to Sauce, he was part of the investment teams at Gruhas, AdvantEdge Founders, and Speciale Invest, working on early-stage investments across diverse sectors. He holds a Bachelor's in Engineering from BITS Pilani.
Ritika Jajoo
Senior Analyst
Ritika joins the investment team as Senior Analyst. Prior to Sauce, she was part of the investment team at Green Frontier Capital, an early-stage climate-focused fund. She is a former LAMP Fellow, holds a Bachelor's degree from Kirori Mal College, and has cleared Level 1 of the CFA Institute exam.
Kunjan Ganatra
Senior Analyst
Kunjan joins the investment team as Senior Analyst. He brings extensive experience with family offices, having served as Investment Analyst at Vadilal Industries and later at Tycho Ventures. His foundational experience includes four years in credit underwriting and risk management with NatWest Group. He is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor's degree from Ahmedabad University.
Mayur Maheshwari
Fund Operations Manager
Mayur has 12 years of experience in finance and operations across financial services. Immediately prior to Sauce.vc, he worked at JP Morgan & Chase handling fund administration of infrastructure and private equity funds. He previously worked at ICICI Venture in the finance team for real estate and private equity funds, and at AXA Technologies handling corporate accounting for the Indian entity. He is a Chartered Accountant and a Commerce graduate.
Subhashree Bhuyan
Deputy Manager
Subhashree brings over six years of experience in fund administration, financial accounting, and regulatory compliance in the AIF sector. Before Sauce VC, she was a key leader at Apex Fund Services LLP managing fund administration for a range of AIFs. Prior to that, she worked at CAMS Limited on fund administration and compliance for alternative investment vehicles. She is a qualified Chartered Accountant with a Bachelor's in Commerce.
Richa Oberoi
Executive Assistant
Richa is an Executive Assistant with over a decade of experience supporting senior executives, with expertise in calendar management, travel coordination, event planning, and expense handling. Her background includes roles at American Express, Microsoft, and LexisNexis. She holds a degree from Delhi University.
Namita Nayal
Executive – Admin & Operations
Namita joins Sauce as Executive – Admin & Operations, bringing expertise in program support, donor management, database management, and procurement from her time at Habitat for Humanity India. She supports the Fin Ops and Investment teams with compliance, deal pipeline management, and portfolio tracking. She holds a Master's degree in Political Science.
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