BellaVita founder launches new venture studio Wolfpack Labs

Serial entrepreneur Aakash Anand is launching his venture studio, Wolfpack Labs, and has earmarked Rs 50 crore of his personal wealth to back early-stage startups in the idea stage.

Wolfpack Labs will invest in cheque sizes between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 1 crore on average for an equity shareholding of up to 15%, it said in a statement.

Anand was the founder of Bella Vita Organic, the direct-to-consumer (D2C) beauty and personal care (BPC) brand, which it sold to Ananta Capital, backed by the Taparia family of Famy Care Group. He also created a portfolio of BPC, pet care, and food and beverage D2C brands under IDAM House Of Brands. 

Wolfpack Labs will focus on creating a cohort of go-to-market-ready startups and will also act as a platform for venture capital funds looking for early-stage companies.

According to the statement, the venture studio will earmark a portion of the equity to create an ESOP pool for all the founders of the cohort to encourage collaboration among startups.

“We are a sector-agnostic venture studio and want to provide the right platform to groom the founders and help them reach out to venture capital investors,” Anand told YourStory, adding that Wolfpack Labs plans to roll out one cohort each quarter by next year onwards. 

As per Anand, the venture studio has earmarked nearly Rs 20 crore of the initial capital for incubating startups, while the rest is to participate in follow-on rounds. “After a few successful cohorts, we will be open to getting external LPs on board for the incubation fund,” he added. 

Anand is also an investor in other ventures and continues to serve as a partner at Ananta Capital, focusing on strategic investments and partnerships for D2C and digital startups.

At present, companies under the IDAM House of Brands, including BellaVita, Better Alt, and Bevzilla, coupled with the Guardian chain of pharmacies and GNC make up about a Rs 1000 crore ARR (annual recurring revenue) business.