Access VC's Rakesh Narayana: Investors have a responsibility to envision the future of consumer products

Over the past five years, corporate venture capital (CVC) has emerged as a major player in the startup funding space. And CPG company Reckitt plans to be front and center of that change through its own CVC firm, Access VC.

In 2020, Rakesh Narayana, gm of Access VC, saw that most consumer venture funding was flowing toward traditional food and beverage consumer brands, not categories like sexual health and hygiene, to which Reckitt is dedicated. Reckitt owns brands like condom brand Durex, feminine hygiene brand Queen V and sexual wellness brand KY. Additionally, there was a dearth of brands serving or being led by people of color, coupled with a growth in better-for-you brands. Since its launch, in 2020 Access VC has invested more than $50 million in over 30 startups, including sexual wellness brand Maude and men’s wellness brand Asystem, across pre-seed to Series C rounds and beyond.

On the latest episode of the Glossy Beauty podcast, Narayana shared that he grew up in India and was raised by a single mother before moving to London for higher education. From there, he worked at Boston Consulting Group as a consultant before entering the CPG category. He said his love for CPG stems from an appreciation for its tangibility and tactile nature and the way consumers interact with and are influenced by consumer brands. While at Reckitt in various roles, he saw the gap between large CPG conglomerates and more innovative indie brands, and the solution he spotted was corporate venture capital.

“There is a large difference and gap between big companies being able to do disruptive innovation and the startups and universities and laboratories that have real cutting-edge innovation,” he said. “Corporate venture capital, in some ways, is meant to bridge that gap. Large companies are exceptionally good at making $100 million brands into $1 billion brands but perhaps not as good at creating brands which don't exist [and growing them] to a $100 million brand.”

Narayana detailed the Access VC investing strategy, the way it differs from traditional venture capital and the role investors have in fostering innovation.