Nutraceuticals Sector Mapping: Independent Research Between Deals

After the Orange Health deal closed and Arhan had bandwidth between active transactions, he chose to spend time independently mapping the nutraceutical supplements and protein segment in India. The category was broad and fast-moving, and he wanted to develop a working thesis before any specific company came into the pipeline.

He reached out to analysts and investors at consumer-focused venture capital firms, including one fund that had recently made an investment in a nutraceutical company. His goal was to understand which sub-segments within the category were seeing genuine traction and which were becoming commoditized.

The conversations surfaced a clear pattern. Protein had become highly competitive and largely undifferentiated, with limited room for new entrants to build a durable position. The more interesting opportunity was in functional supplements: sleep, gut health, probiotics, prebiotics, and effervescent formats, where consumer demand was growing and the competitive field was less crowded.

With that thesis in hand, Arhan began identifying companies operating in those specific sub-segments and reaching out to understand where they were in their fundraising cycles.