First Cheque, a venture capital firm based in Bengaluru exits from D2C brand GIVA With an outstanding 75x return on investment (ROI) and an impressive 194% internal rate of return (IRR).
First Cheque, an early-stage venture capital firm headquartered in Bengaluru, has successfully exited its investment in GIVA Jewellery, a direct-to-consumer (D2C) jewelry brand, yielding an impressive return of 75 times its initial investment. Prateek Agarwal, the Investment Lead at First Cheque, shared this exciting development with the media.
Back in 2019, First Cheque made an undisclosed investment in GIVA, becoming one of the earliest institutional backers of the jewelry brand among their portfolio of 125 startups, which includes names like Fashinza, WintWealth, Bellatrix Aerospace, and Leap Club.
Agarwal disclosed that the exit not only delivered a remarkable 75x return on investment but also boasted an impressive Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 194%, although he did not provide specific details about the principal or the final return amount. As for First Cheque’s current stake in GIVA, that information remains undisclosed.
This achievement follows Titan’s acquisition of the remaining 27.18% stake in CaratLane for Rs 4,621 crore, marking one of the most significant founder exits since the departure of Flipkart’s Sachin and Binny Bansal from their e-commerce giant.
This substantial exit from GIVA signals a positive outlook for the contemporary jewelry market, with venture capital investors closely monitoring this burgeoning sector, driven by increased discretionary spending and a modernized perspective on jewelry. GIVA competes with other prominent players such as CaratLane, Accel-backed Bluestone, and Symphony Asia Holdings-backed Melorra.
First Cheque’s exit is part of GIVA’s Rs 200 crore Series B fundraising round led by Premji Invest, a development announced in July. Existing investors, including Aditya Birla Ventures, Alteria Capital, and A91 Partners, also participated in this round. India Quotient and Sixth Sense Ventures were early investors in the Bengaluru-based jewelry firm.
Established in 2019 by Ishendra Agarwal, Nikita Prasad, and Sachin Shetty, GIVA specializes in curated silver jewelry from designers worldwide. With a presence in over 50 Indian stores, GIVA plans to strengthen its omnichannel approach and broaden its product accessibility to tap into increased consumer spending.
To date, GIVA has secured over $50 million in funding and achieved revenue of Rs 100 crore in FY22. Remarkably, this exit from GIVA marks First Cheque’s first significant success within its startup portfolio.
The sector-agnostic firm has completed over 130 investments since its inception four years ago. They launched Fund II last year, with a corpus of approximately Rs 38 crore (~$5 million) from global investors. They’ve already invested in over 30 startups spanning various sectors, including B2B marketplaces, consumer internet, fintech, and SaaS.
CapGrid, one of their portfolio companies, recently concluded a $7 million funding round led by Nexus Venture Partners.
First Cheque has ambitious plans to invest in 18-20 companies across various sectors over the next 8-9 months, committing $100,000 as part of larger investment rounds ranging from $300,000 to $800,000, as Agarwal elaborated.
