The round was led by Singapore-based Vertex Growth Fund, along with existing investors 3one4 Capital, Bertelsmann India Investments, Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, and Sistema Asia Fund.
Banglore based gourmet meat start-up Licious, the fresh meat and seafood brand, has received a Series E funding round of $30 million. With the current round of fundraising, Licious has achieved the rare feat of attracting the highest funding in the industry, which puts them at the driver’s seat for transforming the way India experiences meat.
The company, over the last four years, has been elevating the industry standards across sourcing, production and customer experience while positively impacting lives of livestock farmers and fishermen through creating quality benchmarks, providing training and economic stability.
The funds raised through Series E will be deployed towards expanding presence in a greater number of Indian cities, augmenting capabilities in existing markets, strengthening omnichannel presence and powering new product launches, especially in the ready-to-eat category.
It will also focus on upgrading the Indian meat and seafood ecosystem by bolstering technological intervention, expanding its pool of employees and training them on niche skills that the industry needs.
“We are elated to see our marquee investors instill faith in our vision,” said Vivek Gupta and Abhay Hanjura, co-founders, Licious. “The results and the overall industry impact that we have been able to achieve demonstrates the increasing maturity of the market and that it is at the cusp of a major transformation,” they said.
“We are not just aiming at achieving success as a business but creating an unprecedented and consistent experience for all our stakeholders,” Gupta and Hanjura said.
“The fact that 92 per cent of the Indian meat and seafood industry is still unorganized, indicates the huge, underserved community that exists, as well as the opportunity that this sector has to offer,” they added.
Gupta and Hanjura said, “The traditional meat and seafood industry are in dire need of tech intervention, quality standardization and a skilled talent pool.”
Tam Hock Chuan, managing partner, Vertex Growth, stated that Licious was building a company and brand that was synonymous with the freshest meat and meat products.
“We are confident that the team’s capabilities and technologies it has established across its entire supply chain will achieve this and allow Licious to deliver value to consumers in India,” he added.
“Licious is leading the transformation of the traditional meat and seafood industries to become the premier brand of choice,” said James Lee, managing partner, Vertex.
“The market opportunity is exciting, fuelled by India’s favourable economic trends like rising per capita income and urban consumption trends. We are privileged to support the team as they expand and advance on their mission of bringing the best meat possible to consumers,” he added.
The current meat and seafood market is estimated at $40 billion. Licious is present in seven cities and processes more than 17,000 orders a day. This 2,000-employee strong company is touted as the fastest-growing consumer brand in India and is all set to be India’s first consumer unicorn brand.
“The company has clocked in a healthy growth rate of 300 per cent y-o-y (year-on-year) and aims to reach a target of Rs 1,000 crore by 2023,” said the company.
