Yuvraj Singh changes investment strategy and prepares to invest in snack brand Twiddles

Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli are cricket superstars who first came to prominence investing in startups.

However, Singh, known for his fearless batting and huge risk appetite, became the only cricketer to launch a structured investment vehicle for startups back in 2015. “After recovering from cancer, it was important to me to give back to the community and health, education and sport were the right areas for me to invest.”

Since then, YouWeCan Ventures has invested in more than a dozen startups, including aviation startup JetSetGo, at-home grooming service Vyomo, kid-focused sports program SportyBeans, car service marketplace Cartisan, and online healthcare marketplace Healthians.

“Of all the people, one took off at that moment, and that was Healthy Man,” he recalled.

Singh invested in Healthians back in 2015. He exited the business in 2022 with a return of over 100x. The cricketer did not reveal specific details of his return but said he still holds a minority stake in the company and endorses the brand.

But his investment journey has not been smooth sailing. His financial bets on startups such as co-working space company Creator’s Gurukul, e-government solutions startup Intelligent Interfaces and logistics startup Moovo went sour when these companies collapsed, leaving him with suffered a loss.

Now that he’s wiser and more mature in his entrepreneurial journey, Singer says he’s ready to make more thoughtful bets.

“Entrepreneurship is still a learning curve. As an entrepreneur, I wouldn’t call myself young — I’m middle-aged — but I’ve made mistakes and taken risks. Now, I wouldn’t invest in 5-7 companies start-ups, but will take my time and focus on one company with potential. That will be my strategy going forward,” said Singh, who was named for his stellar performances with bat and ball in the 2011 Cricket World Cup. Player of the tournament.

Singh’s YouWeCan, which has previously pursued an aggressive investment strategy, will now slow down and abandon its fixed investment model. Instead, it plans to invest more selectively, carefully evaluating its involvement on a case-by-case basis.

Singh will kick off this new initiative by launching healthy snack brand Twiddles on November 12, of which he serves as co-founder.

Bite bigger with Twiddles

Singer will hold a double-digit minority stake in the company. Alfinity Studios will hold a majority stake in Twiddles, with the remaining shares held by Alfinity investors.

The company, founded in 2024 by Rishi Dewan and Kumar Gaurav, is currently raising funds from external investors. Twiddles’ parent company, Alfinity, is a venture capital vehicle and branding company that partners with celebrities and influencers to launch consumer-facing brands.

While the company’s focus for the next six months is Twiddles, it plans to launch three more brands next year. “Our core is food and we want to do an initial few brands and then eventually build a team to do market research in different categories,” Gaurav told Mint.

Twiddles launches four nut butters: Almond Crumble, Walnut Brownie, Orange Noir and Almond Silk, and three nut snacks – Almond Crumble Bite, Orange Noir Bites and Nuts & Dates Bites.

Going forward, it also plans to enter other categories such as peanut butter.

Twiddles seeks to capitalize on healthy snack boom

Zoeb Ali Khan, founding member of Sauce.vc, said: “The sauce market is challenging as it mainly appeals to taste-conscious children. Several companies have tried to enter this space but have struggled to gain lasting traction.” Stage consumption fund. “Competition in the healthy snack industry is also fierce, with numerous brands vying for attention. However, companies can only carve out a niche by optimizing taste and nutrition.”

He added that Twiddles would benefit from the initial push due to Yuvraj Singh’s brand recognition. However, continued growth will depend on continued innovation to drive long-term success. According to Twiddles, the spread contains up to 70% nuts and seeds, zero preservatives, 70% less sugar and no palm oil. “What might work for Twiddles is positioning it as a healthier alternative, particularly by eliminating the use of palm oil,” Khan said.

The healthy snack industry has seen a recent surge in popularity, driven by health-conscious consumers. In India, brands like Snackible, Soulfull, Slurrp Farm and Happilo are already making their mark. Even traditional FMCG companies like ITC have entered the space by acquiring Yoga Bar and launching new segments like Right Shift.

“It’s a huge market and even with the competition, we’re still looking for gaps and making our mark there. There aren’t many other good brands that offer a healthy spread and taste and we’ll focus on that and keep moving forward,” said Mohammed Sirajuddin, Founding Advisor of Alfinity Studios.

According to data from market research company IMARC Group, the size of the Indian snack market reaches $It is expected to more than double to Rs 42,694.9 billion by 2023 $It will reach Rs 95,521.8 crore by 2032, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.08% during 2024-2032.

“My knowledge about food and health really started at the age of 31, when I recovered from cancer and started taking care of my health. Now, players representing India know what to eat. But this knowledge needs to be spread to schools and colleges as well. Children should know what they are eating – that’s the whole point behind it,” said Singh.

The company plans to focus on e-commerce, express commerce and Twiddles’ own website as distribution channels. Twiddles is already available on Amazon, and the company is also in talks with a leading fast e-commerce company to launch the product exclusively.

Twiddles will target Indian metros but also plans to take the brand globally within a year. Within Twiddles, Alfinity will manage market research, manufacturing, marketing, distribution and brand expansion, while Yuvraj will drive growth as the brand face.

investment philosophy

To be sure, Singer did this in many of his other investments. “If I invest in a brand, I have to be its spokesperson to drive its growth. For me, it’s very important to represent and shape the brand. If I can’t put my face on it, what’s the point,” he explain.

For Singh, Twiddles is the company where he has an operational role as founder. However, investments and shareholdings continue to be made through YouWeCan Ventures.

“He understands all aspects of the entrepreneurial journey, especially accepting failure. Being healthy gives him a great exit opportunity. However, many startups fail too. He embraces failure and stands by founders during tough times “Sirajuddin has been involved in Singh’s investment journey since 2018 and will continue to work with him at Twiddles.

While Singh is sitting on returns from other portfolio companies such as private airline JetSetGo, robotics startup Holoworld (formerly Holosuit) and wellness startup Wellversed, his investment bets have run into considerable trouble during Covid-19 . “When people are down, you have to support them. When they’re up, they don’t need you to be there for them. I think that’s how relationships are built,” he said.

Singer also advocates taking a longer-term view of the company. “With any business proposal I make, you have to think about a three to five-year plan. Let’s see if we can achieve our goals in the next three years and if we achieve that, we will aim for five years, ” he added.