Siddhi Capital Secures $135M for Fund II to Invest in Consumer Packaged Goods Startups

When Melissa Facchina began working in her family’s juice manufacturing business, she became fascinated with efficient operations and noticed growing consumer demands for supply chain transparency and high-quality products. Observing that big consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies, including her family’s, weren’t meeting these demands, she left in the early 2010s to establish Siddhi Services, an outsourced consultancy supporting over 500 food and beverage projects and contributing to 93 successful exits. Acting as ‘guns for hire,’ they resolved scaling challenges and attracted investor attention, which revealed unhealthy dynamics where unrealistic investor demands led to reduced valuations or management changes, causing companies to mislead investors out of fear.

The firm’s portfolio includes brands like Aura Bora sparkling water, Thistle food delivery, Mid-Day Squares chocolate snacks, and Magic Spoon cereal. Facchina shares the managing partner role with Steven Finn, who has led numerous investments through his family office. With a team of 24, the four-year-old firm raised nearly $70 million for its first fund, aided by Finn’s father, Brian Finn, former CEO of Credit Suisse USA and current chairman of Siddhi.

The journey as an emerging fund manager, particularly for women-led funds, has been challenging. Women-led funds accounted for only about 3% of the $107 billion raised by venture funds globally last year, according to Venture Capital Journal. However, Facchina’s initial fund closed in just an hour, largely due to Brian Finn’s influence and connections with high-net-worth individuals.

Siddhi recently closed a $135 million Fund II, a process that took two years, contrasting with the swift closure of the first fund. Despite the challenging timing, coinciding with the onset of the Ukraine-Russia war, about 98% of the limited partners reinvested in the second fund. The firm invested during this period, adding companies like lab-grown protein ingredient company Ingrediome and recombinant protein producer Future Fields.

Siddhi Capital’s first fund invested in 40 early-stage companies, but Fund II will focus on fewer, more substantial investments at the growth equity stage, targeting $5 million to $10 million investments in companies generating $25 million to $100 million in revenue. Most investments will be in consumer packaged goods companies, with a smaller portion directed towards food tech ventures in areas like fermentation and cellular agriculture.