ET Startup Awards 2026 | Midas Touch: Sauce VC’s winning recipe earns Manu Chandra the prize
Sauce VC founder and managing partner Manu Chandra has won the Midas Touch award for Best Investor at the ET Startup Awards 2026. The jury recognised his early bets on consumer startups and strong exit track record, including Sauce’s estimated Rs 500-550 crore exit from portfolio company Innovist to L’Oréal.
The ET Startup Awards 2026 showcased the Midas Touch award for best investor category, which underwent intriguing deliberations. After a thorough discussion, the jury, led by Wipro executive chairman Rishad Premji, selected Sauce VC founder and managing partner Manu Chandra as the winner. His selection was primarily attributed to his track record of early investments resulting in significant exits.
Sauce VC's sale of Innovist to L'Oréal, generating an estimated Rs 500-550 crore, played a crucial role in Chandra's selection. This deal delivered an estimated 8-10-fold return on investment, underscoring Chandra's strategy of writing smaller initial checks to increase exposure to successful companies. Chandra's fellow nominees included Mukesh Bansal, Anu Hariharan, and Shailesh Lakhani.
Bansal's focus on deeptech and his ability to generate outsized investment outcomes were highlighted by the jury.
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