Meat startup Licious turns unicorn after $52-million funding

Mumbai: Fresh meat and seafood brand Licious has raised $52 million in its Series G round, led by IIFL’s Late Stage Tech Fund and Avendus, a senior executive told ET.

The round values the company post-money at $1.05 billion, making it the latest entrant to the coveted unicorn club, or those startups with valuations of $1 billion or more.

“We will use these funds to grow our offline business, further our ready-to-eat product portfolio and for our geographic expansion,” Vivek Gupta, cofounder of Licious, told ET.

In July, the company raised $192 million as part of its Series F round, led by the Singapore government’s investment company Temasek, and Multiples Private Equity, valuing it at $650 million.

The direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand also counts funds such as Brunei Investment Agency, 3one4 Capital, Bertelsmann India Investments, Vertex Growth Fund, and Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India as investors.

“We will opportunistically look at growing inorganically by acquiring smaller businesses in the ancillary segments and business areas,” Gupta added.

The company’s current revenue run rate stands at Rs 1,000 crore, he said.

“Having grown around 60% since our last fundraise we expect to close the financial year at Rs 1,500 crore,” he added.

According to the company, 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 Covid-19 pandemic has played a major role in accelerating the sector’s growth.

“The fresh meats and seafood sector is still largely underserved, unorganised, and holds a vast opportunity of $40 billion. We will continue to build the category through investments in technology for supply chain excellence, product innovation, talent, and vendor partner upgrades,” said Abhay Hanjura, cofounder of Licious.

Licious currently serves 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 till date. According to the company, it serves over 1 million orders every month, with over 90% repeat users across markets.

“Licious has disrupted the meat and seafood category, which has largely been unorganized and underserved. Licious’ focus on product quality, freshness and innovation has created a strong brand making them the undisputed category leader. Licious is among the fastest-growing D2C brands and is one of the few consumer businesses in India with very strong revenue retention metrics,” said Chetan Naik, the fund manager of IIFL’s $500 million Late Stage Tech Fund.