Yu, an omnichannel consumer food brand, has received Series A funding in a mix of equity and venture debt.
The round was led by renowned public market investor Ashish Kacholia, with participation from existing investors, Asian Paints Promoter Group (Manish Choksi and Varun Vakil).
The current funding round also saw participation from DPIIT’s Start Up India Seed Fund scheme, which approved Yu under its Rs 945 crore programme that funds tech-enabled startups.
The startup plans to double its capacity in addition to ramping up its existing offline and online distribution in India while continuing to expand its global footprint across markets like Africa, the Middle East, and the US.
Founded by Bharat Bhalla and Varun Kapur, Yu has developed a wide range of 15 unique products across noodles, pasta, oats, and halwa that can be prepared in 4-5 minutes by simply adding hot water.
“The next 12 months will also see us aggressively expanding our presence in global markets like the US, Africa, and the Middle East,” the founders added.
It has penetrated multiple distribution channels, including offline stores (3,000+ stores), online (e-Com and Q-Com servicing pan India), over 100 institutional campuses, and exports (South Africa and the US) in a span of 12 months.
The brand says it is seeing significant customer traction, with over 200% growth QoQ, and is on track to sell 1 million bowls by Q3-FY23.
With its signature Butter Chicken Pasta and Chilli Chicken Noodles, the company recently expanded into the non-vegetarian category. The brand is looking to introduce 10 more unique products over the next 12 months to complement its existing product portfolio.
