Why a product design company is venturing into early-stage investing

Mumbai-based Lights Out Studio, which works with consumer businesses, has invested in two D2C brands. The product design company is actually starting its own early-stage investment arm.

Monday February 28, 2022 , 3 min Read

Good Morning,

Lights Out Studio is a product design company that has worked with the likes of Ayurveda brand Kapiva and fitness and wellness app Cure.fit. But, it now has a new ambition.

The Mumbai-based company announced the launch of Lights Out Ventures, its investment arm that will invest in early-stage direct-to-consumer (D2C) companies as well as consumer brands.

Saksham Mendiratta, Co-founder at Lights Out Studio, tells YourStory that the investment arm plans to deploy close to Rs 3 crore by the end of 2022 from accrued revenues of the product design arm. Lights Out Ventures plans to invest in 10-15 companies by the end of 2022 with cheque sizes between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 25 lakh.

“It is not an accelerator programme or a syndicate and we work as angel investors. We bring with us a network of partnerships, which could benefit D2C brands, such as connecting them with other venture capital funds for their follow-on rounds or distribution network and retail,” he says.

It has already invested in two D2C brands — Mumbai-based nutraceuticals brand Super Human Wellness and Jaipur-based healthy snacks brand Eat Better.

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