Consumer startup growth isn't at deep tech's expense

Fireside Ventures, an early backer of D2C brands such as Mamaearth and boAt, is now eyeing opportunities in the travel and sustainability space. In this interview, co-founder and partner VS Kannan Sitaram tells Narayanan V about its fundraising plans, slowdown in consumer startup IPOs and more. Excerpts:

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Fireside Ventures, an early backer of brands such as Mamaearth and boAt, is now eyeing opportunities in travel and sustainability space. In this interview, co-founder and partner VS Kannan Sitaram tells Narayanan V about its fundraising plans, slowdown in consumer startup IPOs and more.

Excerpts:

Q: Consumer startups are seen favouring consumer startups over deep tech. Is that a fair criticism?

A: I think the more relevant question is whether consumer startups—be it food delivery or fancy ice cream startups—have created any value? The answer is clearly yes. They have done it not at the expense of startups in other sectors. Their growth is driven by rising consumption. As people earn more, they want to consume more—and consumer startups are simply enabling that. These companies have also created tens of thousands of jobs, be it delivery agents, warehouse managers, and logistics and supply chain executives. These roles didn't exist at this scale otherwise. Plus, they generate significant tax revenue in the forms of GST and income tax. I don't think backing consumer startups and supporting deep tech are mutually exclusive. The better question is: why don't we see more deep tech startups? Is it that they're not being created, or are they being built but not noticed? That's something that I don't have an answer for.

Q: Will Fireside invest in deep tech startups?