India-based foodtech unicorn Licious that sells meat products and seafood has secured $150 million in fresh funding. The financing came from Singapore-based Amansa Capital for business growth.
First investment after becoming a unicorn
The investment pumped into Licious also came from Kotak PE, Axis Growth Avenues AIF – I and existing others. Besides, prominent angel investors, including Nithin & Nikhil Kamath of Zerodha, BoAt’s Aman Gupta and Haresh Chawla, Partner, True North also took part in the round.
What’s more, this fresh funding into Licious has come after it raised $52 million in a Series G funding round back in October last year. Also, it is the first investment raised by the company after it became the first D2C (direct-to-consumer) unicorn in the country.
The proceeds of this round will be used for investment in the technological intervention as it will help category development and improve the overall customer experience. In addition, Licious will also invest in the strategic acquisition and widening the brand’s reach.
“Today, Licious is the highest valued D2C startup in India. This valuation is a direct outcome of the value that we have created for our stakeholders – investments made towards building the category have borne us rich dividends and have propelled growth for the company and its people,” Vivek Gupta and Abhay Hanjura, co-founders, Licious, said.
“The role of a category pioneer is bestowed with many responsibilities as well, which Licious continues to honour. We are committed to building a sustainable, responsible business that will reimagine the animal protein category in India through an optimal mix of global influence and product innovation best suited for India. Through it all, we pledge to not lose sight of our mission statement that we adopted on day one- if we can’t feed it to our families, we won’t sell it to our consumers.”
S Sriniwasan, MD, Kotak Investment Advisors Limited, said “We are excited to partner with Licious, India’s #1 D2C brand. Due to Licious’ focus on quality and strong execution, it’s successfully creating a habituated and loyal customer base. We believe, under the leadership of Abhay and Vivek, Licious is best positioned to serve the fresh meat and seafood need of India. We are excited to partner with Licious on this journey.”
Pioneer in its category
As per Licious, the D2C market in India is at an inflection point and is expected to grow over $100 billion by 2025. However, the fresh meat and seafood sector is largely underserved, unorganised despite the fact that it holds a vast opportunity of $40 billion. The pandemic has played a major role in accelerating the growth of this sector.
Founded in 2015 by Vivek Gupta and Abhay Hanjura in Bengaluru, India. The duo wanted to change the way Indians experience meat. It operates with the mission that everyone deserves better meat.
Licious currently offers its services in 14 cities, including Bengaluru, Hyderabad, NCR, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Jaipur, Coimbatore, Kochi, Puducherry, Vizag, Vijayawada and Kolkata.
It has delivered to more than 2 million customers to date. Licious claims to have served over 1 million orders every month, with over 90% repeat users across its operational markets. With over 3,500 employees the company claims to deliver the order within 90-120 minutes.
Given that the company is getting the interest of investors from India and abroad, it shows its obsession towards customers, quality and service standards. In the online ordering of meat and seafood segment, Licious competes against rivals including Meatigo and FreshtoHome among others.
