L Catterton: The LVMH-backed consumer giant hunting India's next big brands

The world's largest consumer-focused private equity firm — backed by LVMH — is now writing $25–150 million cheques for India's consumer brands through a dedicated $400M fund.

The firm

L Catterton is the largest consumer-focused private equity group in the world, formed through the partnership of Catterton, LVMH and Groupe Arnault. Since 1989 its funds have made more than 300 investments in leading consumer brands, and today it manages approximately $40 billion of assets dedicated to middle-market and high-growth consumer companies. With more than 200 investment and operating professionals across 18 offices, it runs multiple strategies — Flagship, Middle Market, Growth, Asia, Latin America, Europe, Private Credit and Real Estate — and can write cheques from $5 million to $5 billion.

Thesis and sweet spot

L Catterton does one thing and claims to do it better than anyone: build consumer brands. Its edge is category depth — decades of pattern recognition in food and beverage, beauty, retail, restaurants, hospitality and consumer services — plus operational value-creation teams that work with management on brand, distribution and growth. The India strategy is pure mid-market growth capital: L Catterton India Fund I made a $200 million first close, targets a $400 million corpus with a $200 million greenshoe (up to $600 million), and plans seven to nine investments of $25–150 million each across food and beverage, healthcare consumer services, retail and restaurants, and branded consumer products. Early backers include the IFC (which proposed $30 million plus a $30 million co-investment envelope) and Kotak Private clients.

Notable portfolio

Global icons in the portfolio include Birkenstock, Equinox, Tula, Gentle Monster, Solidcore and Dishoom. In India the fund has backed Sugar Cosmetics, healthy-snack maker Farmley, pet-food brand Drools, restaurant operator Impresario (owner of the Social chain) and holds a minority stake in Jio Platforms. In 2026 the firm launched Champ, a $500 million athlete-backed consumer fund with investor Mark Patricof — backed by names like Kevin Durant and Mike Trout — betting that sports stars' cultural influence can accelerate brand growth.

People

The firm's partnership with LVMH gives it a luxury-brand DNA rare in private equity. In India, the venture is led by executive chairman Sanjiv Mehta, the former Hindustan Unilever chairman and MD who partnered with the firm in 2024, alongside partner Anjana Sasidharan, who heads India investments, coordinating with Asia leadership under managing partner Scott Chen.

Programs and perks

L Catterton runs no open accelerator or public founder-credit program — none is announced. The founder perk is institutional: deep consumer operating expertise, a global brand network spanning the LVMH ecosystem, and dedicated value-creation teams. For a consumer brand founder, that operating bench — plus a fund whose only job is making consumer companies bigger — is the pitch.

Why it matters for founders

If you are building a consumer brand in India with real traction and national ambitions, L Catterton's India fund is arguably the most specialised growth capital available: $25–150 million cheques, an India team led by the former HUL chief, and a global machine that has scaled Birkenstock-level brands before. For food, beauty, retail and consumer-services founders, this is the investor that speaks your language natively.