Franchise India to invest in 25 start-ups in FY2019-20; tech businesses on radar Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur! Serial entrepreneur and angel investor Gaurav Marya shares the investment plans of Franchise India.

After investing in 100 early-stage start-ups, Franchise India is now looking at making 25 more investments in the current fiscal. Gaurav Marya, Chairman, Franchise India Holdings Ltd has funded start-ups like Bikezone and UClean in the past. So far, the company has invested in consumer and retail brands. Talking about his investment ideology, Marya says, "Going forward, our strategy is to look at tech investments. Early-stage is where we invest the most. Most tech business need large investments and we foresee great opportunity into strategic and business growth of these businesses. We act as a rainmaker for Series A and B for business which go beyond our investments."

Franchise India as a company has always been investing in future businesses since its inception in 1999. "We always like to invest in ideas and entrepreneurs while looking at a firm's scalability of the concept. From the time we saw the Indian consumption story shaping up 4-5 years back, we set up this dedicated office to seek the most promising start-ups and help them grow. Before investing, the company looks at 100 per cent commitment of the entrepreneur and dedication to the concept by the core team. Scalability of the concept through channel development and the franchise as a business model would be an added advantage," he explains.

Unlike an institutional fund, Franchise India will not have a corpus but will invest in start-ups through money infused by the founders. While the amount invested across start-ups has not been confirmed, the company's portfolio companies have raised follow-on rounds. Franchise India claims marquee companies like Zomato, OYO, Raymond and Titan are using its platform for franchising. Currently, Franchise India has no plans to include external angel investors in its current investments.

For them, large play in channel development and distribution always acts as a gainer to expand further. Franchise India plays a strategic role in newer introductions, showcasing better mechanisms and playing the role of an incubator as well as helping get the best talent pool. Some of its successful exits have been Body Building India, Sportybeans and 2358.

Keen on the new-age and consumption business, the company has invested in concepts like co-living, EV charging points, food tech, proptech, to name a few. Franchise India looks at the dynamism of the founder and values innovativeness of the concept. Out of its previous investments, 20 per cent have given high returns and 50 per cent averaged out while 30 per cent were written off. Food and retail have been the sector where Franchise India invested the most.

Franchise India is Asia's largest franchising and retailing company that manages Indian and international brands and has 100 offices in the country. The company has helped more than10,000 brands so far with franchise solutions. In the past, it picked up a 51 per cent stake in global real estate brokerage RE/MAX's India arm for an estimated Rs 50 crore. With 2,000 people on its payroll and 5,000 associates, Franchise India has been helping companies in India and internationally to find the right franchise partner. Franchise India is currently present in 70 cities and 8 countries with deep penetration in building businesses. It holds very large events play which has served as a business opportunity for many new start-ups. From 360 media to a brokerage service group, it has a large footprint across events.

Disclaimer:

Franchise India is one of the stakeholders in Entrepreneur India.