Building Blocks for Winning India's Market

Welcome to Unbox!

We break down the power law principal of venture capital in action for Lightbox funds, bring you upto speed with the latest developments of in our portfolio, and decode winning investment play books in India’s fragmented consumer landscape.

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Warren Buffett famously said, “We don’t have to be smarter than the rest. We have to be more disciplined than the rest.” It’s a deceptively simple line that establishes one of the most powerful truths in investing: success often comes not from flashes of genius, but from consistent, deliberate action over time.

For decades, Buffett has prioritised temperament over intellect, favouring simple, time-tested strategies executed with unwavering discipline. His philosophy has never hinged on chasing the next big idea or predicting the unpredictable. Instead, it's been about buying high-quality businesses at reasonable prices and sticking with them. The market, he has long believed, rewards consistency and restraint far more than sheer cleverness.

At the heart of his approach is a deeply cautious view of risk. As he noted in his 2023 letter to shareholders, “One investment rule at Berkshire has not and will not change: Never risk permanent loss of capital.” Avoiding outsized losses, Buffett often says, is just as important as finding the next big winner. Mathematically, the logic is ironclad: a 50% loss requires a 100% gain just to break even.

Consider Berkshire’s $35 billion investment in Apple between 2016 and 2018—it grew to $173 billion by the end of 2023. This led to Buffet’s “embarrassing” admission that Tim Cook had made Berkshire a lot more money that he’s ever made the firm. Classic Buffet, downplaying his own brilliance in favour of his own principles.

Venture capital, however, lives by a very different playbook.

In traditional VC, the assumption is that most startups will fail. A handful—perhaps one in ten—will generate the lion’s share of returns. This is the power law in action: 90% of a fund’s returns often come from 10% of its investments. As a result, many VC firms build large, diversified portfolios and chase moonshots, knowing that a single outlier can make the fund.

Sport offers a surprisingly apt metaphor here. Tennis legend Roger Federer won only 54% of the individual points he played in his career—but he won 80% of his matches. That’s the power law in motion: a few crucial points, or investments, drive the final outcome.

This model has worked especially well in markets like the US, where VC thrives by backing emerging technologies in highly organised economies. But India is a different story.

Here, the challenge isn’t just about discovering new technologies—it’s about deploying proven ones to organise inefficient, fragmented markets. India doesn’t need a better mousetrap; it needs the right people who can deploy existing tools to solve real problems in execution, distribution, and access.

Lightbox has built its thesis around this insight. Rather than backing radical innovations, it has focused on ventures that improve existing consumer experiences—leveraging technology to upgrade infrastructure, expand reach, and enhance usability. Companies like Rebel Foods (a more efficient QSR model), Bombay Shirt Company (personalized apparel at scale), and Furlenco (flexible furniture rentals) are examples of this approach. The goal isn’t to reinvent consumption in India—it’s to organize it.

This philosophy extends beyond investment. De-risking through operational support has been a cornerstone of Lightbox’s strategy. The firm works shoulder-to-shoulder with founders to set realistic success metrics, hire effectively, and build robust teams. In a landscape where execution trumps invention, this kind of hands-on support is a critical differentiator.

The results speak for themselves. Winding back, the portfolio we created for Sherpalo from 2005 to 2014 among ten companies most notable being Info Edge, naukri.com, Cleartrip, Inmobi, Paymate, and MapmyIndia delivered 8x return over the ten year time horizon. The return could have been doubled had the investments been held longer. Similarly, Lightbox’s second fund through investments in Rebel Foods, Furlenco, Droom, Bombay Shirt Company, and Nua among others, launched in 2014, is projected to deliver a 4x return. 

Looking ahead, Lightbox remains bullish. India’s consumer landscape is shifting: organisation levels are rising, digital adoption is deepening, and many sectors remain under penetrated. The opportunity is maturing. And in this evolving market, where efficient execution holds more value than untested innovation, Lightbox’s disciplined, founder-first approach is uniquely suited to deliver results.

Rebranding with a purpose: Femtech menstrual wellness startup Nua went back to the drawing board to reinvent their packaging across online channels and retail stores. It’s a shift from the erstwhile muted colour scheme to bolder hues of orange. The new packaging also prominently displays the brand’s unique ‘zero-irritation’ proposition which has infused competitiveness in their offerings enabling them to rub shoulders with legacy FMCG brands while observing a stark differentiation in offerings among new-age hygiene wellness brands. To mark the launch of its new avatar, the company joined hands with quick-commerce platform Zepto in the creation of a thoughtful ad campaign. It’s essence? The needs of the modern woman are evolving and so should period care.

In another development, Nua gained recognition in innovation and leadership in women’s wellness through its direct-to-consumer model by bagging ‘D2C brand of the Year’ in the hygiene category at the 14th Annual IRec X D2C Awards 2025.

Expansion on cards: Rooter, India's leading game streaming and esports content platform, concluded FY 2025 with remarkable achievements. The company reported a 120% year-over-year revenue growth, reaching an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $24 million by March 2025. To support its expansion plans, Rooter secured approximately $2 million out of an anticipated $3 million in bridge funding round with participation from Duane Park Private Limited, Lead Sports Limited, and others ahead of its Series B raise. In a strategic move to diversify its revenue streams, Rooter introduced a new vertical focusing on partnerships with game publishers. As part of this initiative, the platform onboarded "Parallel," a Canadian trading card game, enhancing its gaming portfolio.

Additionally, it expanded its digital offerings through Rooter Shop, its dedicated digital gift card store. This platform now provides a range of lifestyle products, including Amazon Gift Cards, Jio Hotstar subscriptions, and Tinder subscriptions, catering to a broader audience beyond traditional gaming enthusiasts.

Edgy product launches, a refreshing campaign: Over the course of the last five months, the custom fashion brand Bombay Shirt Company saw new momentum with the opening of five new stores across Bangalore (Phoenix Marketcity, Whitefield), Mumbai (Phoenix Marketcity, Kurla), Chennai (Express Avenue), New Delhi (Khan Market), and Lucknow (Phoenix Palassio). The brand launched a varied range of summer jackets for that polished yet breezy look for customers. The 100% linen make along with seersucker fabric with a crinkled structure gives this new product a visual edge, one distinctively unique to the aesthetic appeal of the fashion apparel brand. 

They recently wrapped up an innovative ad campaign with cricketer Tilak Varma capturing the cultural ethos of ‘Bombay’ signifying his magnificent rise from the lanes of Byculla to the grand stages of international cricket. 

Reading between the lines: In a recent survey, Lightbox-backed health-tech startup Zeno Health spoke to active, dormant, and attrited customers across online and retail channels, as well as pharmacists, doctors, and medical representatives to better understand what’s shaping healthcare choices in India today. We live in an age where a 60-second YouTube Short can influence which supplements we take for lifelong wellness not to forget the overwhelming number of products floating in the market. The need for a trusted guide has never been more urgent. That’s where Zeno's 'circle of trust' to deliver affordable, transparent, and reliable healthcare becomes paramount. Read more.

Embracing uncharted territories: In the last edition of our monthly catchups, we acquainted you with  urban commute service Cityflo’s strategic expansion to New Delhi after catering to 2.5 million corporate professionals in Mumbai and Hyderabad. Now in another pivot, it has ventured into the rapidly evolving four-wheeler segment with Cityflo Luxe, a premium chauffeur-driven rental service for business and personal use. You can use Luxe for airport transfers, rent cars hourly, and even take trips outstation. The service hopes to fill gaping holes left by ride-hailing services—poorly maintained cabs, unreliable drivers, and surging fares. Founder & CEO Jerin Venad has expressed a belief that the future of mobility and mass adoption in India’s metropolitan cities lies in vertically integrated, professionally operated fleets. Read more here. 

Back home in Mumbai, Cityflo recently announced the addition of 100 custom-built buses to its fleet. These are developed in partnership with Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles (VECV) and are expected to improve both efficiency and agility of services.

In case you missed it, we’ve launched a new newsletter called The Brief. Each week, the Lightbox team will cut through the noise to share sharp, timely insights on what’s shaping India’s consumer economy.

If you’re a private capital investor or simply someone tracking India’s evolving PE/VC landscape—The Brief is worth a read. Hit subscribe!

This week’s edition unpacks how India’s VC playbook is shifting. Info Edge and Prosus—two non-traditional investors in the Indian startup ecosystem—signaled renewed investment momentum in their recent shareholder updates. Prosus announced a cumulative investment of $8.6 billion in India, underscoring its strategic importance, while Info Edge reported a 36% IRR on its startup portfolio since 2007.

But beyond the numbers, their updates reveal a deeper shift in what it takes to succeed in India’s fragmented, efficiency-starved market: long-term patient capital and good governance practices as stepping stones on the climb towards peak valuation.

According to the latest ICVA-EY report, private equity and venture capital investments in India totaled $13.7 billion in Q1 2025—14% lower than the same period last year and 2% below Q4 2024. Deal volume also dropped sharply, down 20% year-on-year and 11% quarter-on-quarter.

Lightbox was in conversation with Entrepreneur India to understand how investors are reading the slowdown, noting that early-stage dealmaking is likely to remain subdued for a few more quarters as the ecosystem digests the impact of ongoing global trade tensions. Read here.

That wraps up this edition! We welcome your feedback—reply to this email with any thoughts, suggestions, or simply to connect.