Licious, fresh meat and seafood brand, on October 5, announced that it raised $52 million in the ”Series G” round led by IIFL Asset Management’s Late-Stage Tech Fund.
With the fresh funding, the Bengaluru-based company has become India’sIndia’s first direct-to-consumer (D2C) unicorn or a start-up with over $1 billion in valuation.
The meat and seafood brand had raised $192 million in its ”Series F” funding round in July 2021, led by Temasek & Multiples Private Equity.
After ”Series F” and ”Series G” fundraise, Licious is now the 29th unicorn to emerge out of India in 2021 amid a funding boom. Companies like Avendus Future Leaders Fund has invested in this round, and Avendus Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Licious for the transaction.
“The D2C market in India is at an inflection point and is expected to attain a size of more than 100 billion by 2025. The achievement of Licious unicorn status is expected to not only further the journey of the brand but unlock the next level of opportunities for the animal protein sector through an inflow of investment, talent & the emergence of more start-ups that will help raise the bar in all aspects,” Licious said in a release.
“Even though the funding for D2C sector has grown significantly, FMCG is still not considered the most attractive category. We expect that Licious’Licious’ Unicorn status will change that. The fresh meats and seafood sector are still largely underserved and unorganised that holds a vast opportunity of $40 billion,” in a joint statement, Vivek Gupta and Abhay Hanjura, Co-Founders of Licious, said.
With the funding, Licious will now compete better with players like FreshToHome, Zappfresh, BigBasket and Swiggy.
As per both the co-Founders, in the future, Licious will work towards building a sustainable, responsible business that will reimagine the animal protein category in India through an optimal mix of global influence and products curated for the Indian palate.
“Licious focuses on product quality, freshness and innovation that has made the brand strong and the undisputed category leader,” Chetan Naik of IIFL AMC was quoted as saying by the statement issued. “Today, Licious is amongst the fastest-growing D2C brands and is one of the few consumer businesses in India with very strong revenue retention metrics.”
Licious, earlier this year, had employed more than 1,000 employees under its employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). This was followed by a buyback worth Rs 30 crore in August.
The company serves 14 Indian cities and has experienced an unprecedented growth of over 500% during the last year, followed by the continuing momentum of the same.
