Lightbox

Fit first

• Lightbox describes itself as investing in early-growth brands and consumer businesses where product leads and technology helps. Check that your company is a consumer brand before you write in.
• It says it takes concentrated bets with a few entrepreneurs and holds sizable ownership, so expect a conversation about a meaningful stake.
• It names no cheque size, geography beyond India, or sector list other than consumer.

How to approach

• Use the Pitch Us form on its site, which accepts a file upload, or write to the pitches inbox listed on its Contact Us page.
• Say in two lines how your product and technology make the brand different, and how you see your category changing consumption in India.
• The site publishes no deadline, eligibility checklist or response time, so do not wait for a window to open.

Helpful to know

• Lightbox lists strategy, governance, operator network and brand-building support as part of how it works with portfolio companies, which is worth asking about once you are in discussions.
• The fellowship and internship pages are for undergraduate students and are not an application route for founders.

Lightbox is a Mumbai-based venture capital firm that invests in early-growth consumer brands. Its own description is of a firm backing consumer businesses where product is the champion and technology is a catalyst, in companies it believes India will obsess over tomorrow. It says its team has been investing in India since 2005 and has backed 27 companies, among them InMobi, Info Edge, Cleartrip, Rebel Foods, Bombay Shirt Company, Furlenco, Nua, Zeno Health and Cityflo. Partner and Managing Director Sandeep Murthy leads the team.

What it looks for

The stage it names is early-growth, and the sector it names is consumer. It describes its approach as going all-in with a few handpicked entrepreneurs and taking concentrated bets, with sizable ownership in each company, on ideas it expects to trend five years from now. The aim, in its words, is to help organise India's large, unorganised consumption markets. The portfolio shown on its site is mostly consumer and consumer-tech brands, such as Furlenco, Nua, Zeno Health, Cityflo and Rebel Foods, though it also lists internet and data companies from earlier years. If you are building a B2B infrastructure product or a deep-tech company, nothing on the firm's pages suggests that is its focus.

Beyond the cheque

Lightbox says it partners with its companies beyond capital. Its What We Do page lists seven services: strategy, business optimisation with data analytics tools and playbooks, help with capital (raising it and managing it efficiently), a corporate governance playbook built for each stage, an operator network of experienced practitioners, talent sourcing for leadership teams, and brand building with specialists. Some of these, such as talent sourcing, sit behind a login on the site, so they are described for portfolio companies and not for outside founders.

How to reach them

The site has a Pitch Us page. It asks whether you are building a consumer brand that uses technology to differentiate, and whether your idea can shape the future of consumption in India, and invites you to fill in a short form, which includes a file upload for a deck. The Contact Us page also lists a pitches inbox, deals@lightbox.vc, a general inbox, and a Mumbai office phone line open Monday to Friday. The site does not publish a deadline, eligibility checklist, response time or selection process, so expect a normal venture conversation and not a fixed application round.

Where it sits

Lightbox's office is at Brady Gladys Plaza, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai 400013. It also runs a fellowship and internship programme for undergraduate students, which is separate from investing and not a way to get funded.