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India’s food and beverage (F&B) market has been growing for years, and is poised to reach a size of $156.25 Bn by 2026. Besides the home-grown players, many foreign brands have also found a big market in India.

Over the year, Indian companies have tied up with foreign players to bring new F&B brands to India. Most recently, Reliance Industries’ lifestyle arm Reliance Brands formed a partnership with international coffee chain Pret A Manger to bring the brand in the country. 

The last few years have also seen a slew of direct-to-consumer (D2C) startups entering the space and competing with the established players. From snacks for kids to alcobev to ready-to-cook food, the startups have made a mark across F&B categories. 

Let’s take a look at some of the emerging F&B startups that are trying to disrupt the Indian market. 

The list below is not meant to be a ranking of any kind. We have listed the Indian F&B startups in alphabetical order.

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Coolberg 

• Founded In: 2016
• Founders: Pankaj Aswani, Yashika Keswani
• Funding Raised To Date: $3.5 Mn
• Investors: RB Investments, India Quotient, Ashish Goenka, Indian Angel Network
• Headquarters: Mumbai

Coolberg is a non-alcoholic beverage brand. It offers non-alcoholic beers in seven flavours – cranberry, peach, ginger, malt, strawberry, mint, and cranberry. 

Coolberg sells non-alcoholic beers via its website and offline distribution channels. Currently, it has a presence in India, Africa, Maldives, Bhutan, and Nepal. 

Yashika Keswani, cofounder of Coolberg, had earlier said, “The Indian beverage market is witnessing an interesting transformation with an increased demand for new flavours. All our variants are unique, refreshing and new to the market. Our R&D team is strong and keeps a close eye on consumer needs.”

In 2019, Coolberg raised $3.5 Mn in its Series A funding round from RB Investments, India Quotient, Ashish Goenka from Suashish Diamonds, and Indian Angel Network. Prior to that, it bagged an undisclosed sum from India Quotient and Indian Angel Network’s maiden fund.

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Dogsee Chew

• Founded In: 2015
• Founders:  Bhupendra Khanal, Sneh Sharma 
• Funding Raised To Date: $13.9 Mn  
• Investors: Mankind Pharma, Sixth Sense Ventures
• Headquarters: Bengaluru

Dogsee Chew offers vegetarian dog treats that are natural, human-grade, and protein-rich. These treats are made from yak milk cheese by residents of villages in Nepal, Sikkim, and Darjeeling. 

Earlier this year, the startup secured $6.7 Mn in its Series A funding round from Mankind Pharma and Sixth Sense Ventures.

In November 2021, it got $7 Mn in its pre-Series A funding round from Sixth Sense Ventures. Currently, it has a presence in over 30 countries. 

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Happilo 

• Founded In: 2016
• Founders:  Vikas Nahar
• Funding Raised To Date: $38 Mn
• Investors: Motilal Oswal Private Equity, A91 Partners
• Headquarters: Bengaluru

Happilo is a healthy snack brand that offers nuts, dried fruits, seeds and dry roasted snacks. It has a manufacturing unit at Yeshwantpur, Bengaluru. It follows an omnichannel approach to sell its products across the country. 

Happilo’s products are non-GMO verified, gluten-free, vegan and fat-free. The startup offers EMI options to customers if they cannot pay for products at once. 

In February, Happilo raised $25 Mn from Motilal Oswal Private Equity to expand its business and offerings, and acquire other firms. Prior to this, it secured $13 Mn from A91 Partners. 

It has grown over 4X in the last 24 months and is aiming to clock revenue of INR 2,000 Cr in the next four years.

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iD Fresh Food

• Founded In: 2005
• Founders: PC Musthafa, Abdul Nazer, Shamsudeen TK, Jafar, Noushad TA
• Funding Raised To Date: $104 Mn
• Investors: NewQuest Capital Partner, Premji Invest, Sequoia Capital, Helion Ventures, Azim Premji
• Headquarters: Bengaluru

iD Fresh Food sells ready-to-make food such as dosa and idli batter, rice rava idli batter, among others, in domestic and international markets. 

It has a presence in over 45 cities across the globe including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad and Dubai, among others.

Recently, the Bengaluru-based D2C startup announced its seventh round of ESOPs worth INR 46 Cr for 27 employees.  

“In the coming months, we are excited to augment our 2,000+ workforce as we explore new markets and continue to create new opportunities for a diverse set of professionals, while actively creating a more inclusive workplace,” Musthafa said while announcing the ESOPs.

In January, the startup secured $68 Mn in its Series D funding round from NewQuest Capital Partner and Premji Invest. It has raised $104 Mn so far from individual and institutional investors. 

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Jade Forest

• Founded In: 2019
• Founders: Shuchir Suri, Punweet Singh
• Funding Raised To Date: $1.25 Mn
• Investors: Mumbai Angels Network, Gaurav Kapur, Rohan Abbas, Ashish Tulsian, AngelList India 
• Headquarters: Delhi 

Jade Forest offers a slew of non-alcoholic beverages to customers via its website, ecommerce marketplaces and last-mile delivery platforms. Its products are priced between INR 80 and INR 85.

In 2021, it secured $1 Mn from Mumbai Angels Network. Prior to this, it secured $250,000 in its seed funding round from angel investors such as Gaurav Kapur, Rohan Abbas, Ashish Tulsian, and AngelList India. 

Its products are certified by the US FDA. In the last two years, it has expanded to 23 Indian cities.

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Jimmy’s Cocktails

• Founded In: 2019
• Founders: Ankur Bhatia and Nitin Bhardwaj  
• Funding Raised To Date: $2.4 Mn
• Investors: Roots Ventures, 7Square Ventures, Vishesh Khurana, Varun Alagh, Keki Mistry, Vidur Talwar, Anirudh Somani, Vinay Agarwal, Ankur Bhatia, Mirza Baig, Ekcle Ventures, Angad Bhatia
• Headquarters: Gurugram

Jimmy’s Cocktails offers a slew of cocktail mixers including gin cherry sour, bloody mary, lime margarita, and mango chili mojito, among others. 

In April, Jimmy’s Cocktails secured $1.8 Mn in its pre-Series A funding round from investors such as Roots Ventures, 7Square Ventures, Vishesh Khurana from Ship Rocket, Varun Alagh from Mama Earth, Keki Mistry from HDFC, among others. 

The startup had then said that it sold over 6 Mn cocktails in the first three months of 2022. 

In the financial year 2021-22, it posted a 2X revenue growth. About 40% of its revenue came from Tier 2, 3 cities.

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Kapiva Ayurveda

• Founded In: 2015
• Founders: Ameve Sharma, Shrey Badhani
• Funding Raised To Date:  $15.77 Mn
• Investors:Vertex Ventures, Fireside Ventures, 3one4 Capital
• Headquarters: Mumbai 

Kapiva Ayurveda offers a slew of ayurvedic products for building immunity, improving digestion, strengthening the body and controlling diabetes, among others. 

In October 2021, it got an undisclosed amount of funding from Bollywood actor Malaika Arora, and also made her its brand ambassador.

The startup’s revenue stood at INR 40 Cr in the financial year 2020-21. It claims to have sold over 8 Lakh ayurvedic products since its launch and has a user base of 3.5 Lakh.

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Lahori

• Founded In: 2017
• Founders: Saurabh Munjal, Saurabh Bhutna, Nikhil Doda
• Funding Raised To Date: $15 Mn
• Investors: Verlinvest
• Headquarters: Punjab

Lahori offers traditional Indian beverages across the country. Currently, it offers Indian drinks in four flavours – Zeera (cumin), Nimboo (lemon), Kacha Aam (raw mango) and Shikanji (lemonade). 

Lahori’s parent company, Archian Foods, manufactures nearly 1 Mn bottles in its fully-automated manufacturing facility, which is spread across 1,50,000 sq ft. Its manufacturing unit is accredited by FSSAI, ISI, HACCP, RoHS and Make In India (offered by GeM). 

In January, Belgium-based Verlinvest infused $15 Mn in Lahori in exchange for a minority stake. 

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Licious 

• Founded In: 2015
• Founders: Abhay Hanjura, Vivek Gupta 
• Funding Raised To Date: $360 Mn
• Investors: Amansa Capital, Kotak PE, Axis Growth Avenues AIF – I, Nithin Kamath, Nikhil Kamath, Aman Gupta, Haresh Chawla, Temasek, Brunei Investment Agency, 3one4 Capital, Bertelsmann India Investments, Vertex Growth Fund, and Vertex Ventures
• Headquarters: Bengaluru

Licious offers a host of meat and seafood including prawns, kebabs and mutton, among others. Besides, it also offers an end-to-end supply chain of products that it sells to customers, right from their procurement to processing to delivery. 

In March, the foodtech unicorn secured $150 Mn from Amansa Capital, Kotak PE, Axis Growth Avenues AIF – I, Nithin and Nikhil Kamath of Zerodha, boAt’s Aman Gupta and Haresh Chawla from True North. 

Prior to this, it raised $52 Mn in October 2021. In the financial year 2020-21, it had an annual revenue rate of INR 1,000 Cr and operations in 14 Indian cities. Its customer base stood at over 2 Mn in the fiscal year 2020-21.

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MasterChow

• Founded In: 2020
• Founders: Vidur Kataria, Sidhanth Mada
• Funding Raised To Date: $1.6 Mn
• Investors: Anicut Capital, WEH ventures, Fluid ventures 
• Headquarters: Delhi

D2C brand MasterChow offers ready-to-cook noodles, dipping sauces, and sticky rice, among others. 

In May, MasterChow raised $1.2 Mn from Anicut Capital, WEH ventures and Fluid ventures.

Prior to this, it had raised around $462K in its seed funding round from WEH Ventures and some angel investors. The startup had then claimed that it grew 10x over the previous 12 months and shipped products to over 17,000 pin codes across India.

Currently, it has 25 employees, and is looking to increase its corporate team size over the next 12 months.

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Slurrp Farm 

• Founded In: 2016
• Founders: Meghana Narayan, Shauravi Malik
• Funding Raised To Date: $9 Mn
• Investors: Anushka Sharma, Investment Corporation of Dubai, Fireside Ventures
• Headquarters: Delhi

Slurrp Farm is a children-focussed healthy snack brand. It offers a variety of cereals, milk mixes and snacks such as ready-to-mix pancakes, cakes, dosas, noodles and pastas, among others. For first-time users, it offers these products in trial packs. 

Slurrp Farm’s parent, Wholsum Foods, sells the products via its website and ecommerce marketplaces. Currently, it has a presence in India, the UAE, the US, and the UK. 

In the financial year 2021-22, it reported over INR 50 Cr annual revenue rate (ARR) and witnessed a 10X growth between June 2020 and December 2021. It further aims to achieve a revenue of INR 500 Cr by 2025.

In April, Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma backed Slurrp Farm. Prior to this deal, the D2C brand raised $7 Mn from Investment Corporation of Dubai and Fireside Ventures and also bagged $2 Mn in Series A round from Fireside Ventures.

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Storia

• Founded In: 2017
• Founders: Vishal Shah
• Funding Raised To Date: $6 Mn 
• Investors: Sixth Sense Ventures
• Headquarters: Mumbai

Storia offers a range of processed fruit juices, coconut water, shakes and beverage whitener to customers. 

In 2021, it raised $6 Mn in its Series A funding from Sixth Sense Ventures. It currently has a presence in 33 Indian cities via its 50K retail outlets.

At the time of announcement of its Series A funding round, the startup said it planned to launch new offerings, expand its distribution network and foray into packaged food. 

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TagZ Foods

• Founded In: June 2019
• Founders: Anish Basu Roy, Sagar Bhalotia 
• Funding Raised To Date: $1.5 Mn 
• Investors: 9Unicorns, Umang Bedi, Venture Catalysts, Dexter Angels, Agility Ventures, Arjun Vaidya, Dharamveer Chouhan, Ashneer Grover, Namitha Thapar
• Headquarters: Bengaluru

TagZ manufactures and sells chips, chocolates, dips and chees dribblin, among others. It recently also pitched investors on television show Shark Tank India. 

It also raised money via a consumer stock option plan (CSOP), where it offered equity to customers for investing a minimum of INR 5,000. The CSOP was oversubscribed by 250%. 

Prior to this, it raised an undisclosed amount of investment in its pre-Series A funding round from Venture Catalysts, Zostel’s Dharamveer Chouhan, The Pant Project’s Dhruv Toshniwal, and Loy Halder from Goldman Sachs, among others. 

In the financial year 2021-22, its revenue stood at INR 15 Cr. The startup claims to have served over 30 Mn consumers and sold over 50 Mn chips packets since its inception.  

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TenderCuts

• Founded In: 2016
• Founders: Nishanth Chandran
• Funding Raised To Date: $19 Mn
• Investors: Stride Ventures, Paragon Partners, Nabventures 
• Headquarters: Chennai 

D2C brand TenderCuts offers meat and seafood products including chicken, mutton, seafood, marinades, pickles, and eggs and ready-to-cook products such as cold cuts, sausages, kebabs, and shawarmas, etc.

In 2021, it secured approximately $4 Mn in a debt funding round from Stride Ventures. Prior to this, it raised $15 Mn from Paragon Partners and Nabventures and closed a seed funding round worth $759K in 2017. 

It follows an omnichannel marketing strategy and has been serving customers across Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore via its 50 retail stores. 

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The Whole Truth

• Founded In: 2019
• Founders:  Shashank Mehta
• Funding Raised To Date: $6 Mn
• Investors: Sequoia Capital India, Matrix Partners India, Sauce.vc, Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Sujeet Kumar, Ashneer Grover, Shashvat Nakrani
• Headquarters: Mumbai 

The Whole Truth sells dark chocolate, muesli, protein bars, nut butters and energy bars via its website and other ecommerce marketplaces.

In July, the D2C snack brand secured $6 Mn in its Series A funding round from Sequoia Capital India, Matrix Partners India, Sauce.vc, Flipkart’s Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Udaan’s Sujeet Kumar, Ashneer Grover and Shashvat Nakrani.

The startup had then claimed that it had grown 12x in the last 18 months. Besides, The Whole Truth said it receives 50% of its sales via its website and the rest from ecommerce marketplaces. 

As of now, it is aiming to clock an ARR of INR 90 Cr to INR 100 Cr by 2023.

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Troo Good

• Founded In: 2018
• Founders: Raju Bhupati 
• Funding Raised To Date: $7.4 Mn 
• Investors: OAKS Asset Management
• Headquarters: Hyderabad

Troo Good offers a slew of millet, peanut, chocolate, and dry fruits snack bars and mixtures. In the year of its inception, it clocked a revenue of INR 12 Cr, while in 2019, it posted a revenue of INR 24 Cr. The startup claims that it is currently profitable before tax. 

In November 2021, Troo Good secured a funding of $7.4 Mn from OAKS Asset Management to expand its business in the domestic market. 

Furthermore, the startup claims that it is on path to cross INR 100 Cr revenue mark in the next 18 months. 

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True Elements 

• Founded In: 2013 
• Founders: Puru Gupta and Sreejith Moolayil
• Funding Raised To Date: $2 Mn
• Investors: Marico, Maharashtra State Social Venture Fund
• Headquarters: Bengaluru 

True Elements offers millets, grains, and seeds-based breakfast and snack foods. It follows an omnichannel marketing strategy, selling products via its website, ecommerce marketplaces and brick-and-mortar stores. 

In May, consumer company Marico acquired a 53.98% stake in True Elements’ parent HW Wellness Solutions for an undisclosed sum. Prior to this, True Elements secured INR 10 Cr from Maharashtra State Social Venture Fund last year. 

In the financial year 2021-22, it recorded sales of over INR 54.3 Cr as compared to INR 36.3 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Currently, it sells over 70 products and more than 200 stock-keeping units (SKUs) across 12,000 retail outlets in India. It claims to earn over 75% of its revenue from online distribution channels.

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WickedGud

• Founded In: 2021
• Founders: Bhuman Dani, Soumalya Biswas, Monish Debnath 
• Funding Raised To Date: $1.34 Mn
• Investors: Mumbai Angels, NB Ventures, Dholakia Ventures, Jalaj Dani Family Office, Ashutosh Valani, Priyank Shah, Ravi Shroff, Ravi Nigam, Ashwini Deshpande, Jorge Fernandez Vidal, AkshayGurnani, Titan Capital, Archana Priyadarshini, Gaurav Ahuja, Amit Chaudhary, Aman Gupta, Sameer Mehta, Harsh Vakharia, Jorge Fernandez Vidal
• Headquarters: Mumbai 

WickedGud sells pasta, noodles, malted beverages and other snacks via its website and ecommerce marketplaces. According to its website, its products are wholly vegan and contain plant-based protein. 

In April, WickedGud secured $1 Mn from Mumbai Angels, NB Ventures, Dholakia Ventures, Jalaj Dani Family Office, Ashutosh Valani and Priyank Shah from Renee Cosmetics, Ravi Shroff from Excel Industries, Ravi Nigam from Tasty Bite, Ashwini Deshpande from Elephant Design, among others. 

Prior to this, it had secured $340K in its pre-seed funding round from Titan Capital, Archana Priyadarshini from Point One Capital, Gaurav Ahuja from Chrys Capital, Amit Chaudhary from Lenskart, among others. 

The startup targets customers in the 26-42 years age group and claims to have an average order value of INR 450.