Arovia Consumer, a new platform founded by former Soulfull founder Prashant Parameswaran, has raised ₹100 crore from Fireside Ventures to invest in and scale promising regional packaged-food businesses across India.
The platform plans to take significant stakes in established regional brands that already have strong consumer loyalty, local distribution networks and dependable supply chains. Arovia will work with founders and promoter families to help these businesses expand into new geographies, sales channels and product categories.
The investment is part of deployments from Fireside Ventures’ fourth fund, which closed in late 2025.
Arovia’s strategy is focused on identifying food businesses that have built a strong presence in their home markets but have yet to achieve wider national scale. The platform will look at opportunities in cities including Kochi, Pune, Coimbatore, Madurai, Mysuru, Mangalore, Surat and Indore.
“Our goal is to partner with founders and families, bringing together capital, operating expertise and brand-building capabilities to scale these businesses,” Parameswaran said.
The model will combine investment capital with hands-on operational support. This could include strengthening distribution, expanding into modern trade and digital channels, developing new product lines and taking regional brands into markets beyond their traditional strongholds.
Parameswaran brings more than two decades of experience in consumer businesses and also comes from a family-business background.
He founded Soulfull with the aim of introducing traditional Indian grains into modern packaged-food formats. The company subsequently developed into a multi-category food brand before being acquired by Tata Consumer Products in February 2021.
Parameswaran continued to lead the business within Tata Consumer Products for five years before launching Arovia Consumer.
His experience with Soulfull is expected to shape Arovia’s approach. Instead of creating brands from the ground up, the platform plans to work with existing businesses that already have established products, consumer trust and local market knowledge.
This approach reflects a growing interest in regional packaged-food companies that have built loyal customer bases but may require additional capital, professional management support and distribution capabilities to expand nationally.
Fireside Ventures said Arovia’s model brings together Parameswaran’s experience in food-brand building with an opportunity to partner with strong regional businesses.
“Arovia brings together Prashant’s experience in building and scaling consumer food businesses with an opportunity to partner with strong regional brands,” said Kannan Sitaram, co-founder and partner, Fireside Ventures.
He said there was considerable potential to build on the existing strengths of such businesses and extend their reach to consumers across India.
The investment also reinforces Fireside Ventures’ focus on India’s consumer sector at a time when regional food brands are increasingly looking beyond their traditional markets.
For Arovia, the immediate task will be to identify businesses with strong products, established demand and capable promoter teams. By combining these strengths with capital, brand-building expertise and wider distribution, the platform aims to help regional packaged-food companies develop into larger national businesses.