Epigamia raises Series C funding of 182 Crores
Funding round led by Verlinvest and Danone Manifesto Ventures
For immediate release
January 15, 2018 (Mumbai) - Drums Food International, the parent company of fresh FMCG brand Epigamia, announced a Rs 182 Crore Series C round of financing. The round was led by Verlinvest, a Belgium-based consumer- focused investment firm, and new investor Danone Manifesto Ventures, the venture investment arm of one of the world’s leading food and beverage companies. This round also included participation from existing investor DSG Consumer Partners (DSGCP), new investor Samina Vaziralli, Executive Vice Chairperson of Cipla, and venture debt participation from InnoVen Capital, India’s largest venture debt provider backed by Temasek Holdings.
Rohan Mirchandani, CEO and Co-Founder, Epigamia said, “We are thrilled to expand our partnership with Verlinvest & DSGCP and are very excited to bring Danone Manifesto Ventures into this partnership. Danone is the global leader in our space and with the support from their venture arm, we expect to execute an ambitious business plan. With this new funding round, we intend to expand our distribution across 25 cities in India and expand our range of fresh contemporary products with unique value propositions like high protein, lactose-free, and probiotics. We are also excited to bring on Samina as a shareholder, who has always been a great supporter and advisor.”
Epigamia is India’s leading start-up in the branded fresh FMCG space and has become popular across a wide consumer demographic owing to its unique and contemporary product offering. Ever since it launched India’s first branded Greek Yogurt, Epigamia has rapidly gained traction with Indian consumer becoming the snack of choice for India’s health-conscious millennials. Since raising its Series B round, the company has expanded its product portfolio to include Artisanal Curd, India’s first lactose-free curd; Epigamia Mishti Doi, a contemporary take on the traditional Bengali dessert; and Greek Yogurt Smoothies, a high protein drinkable yogurt.
“We have a five-year vision to expand distribution across 50,000 touch points. We have been able to create and demonstrate value in managing a cold chain logistics fleet and intend to continue to scale this further as we develop new products. We may also look to partner or make some acquisitions in the future,” added Rahul Jain, Founding Partner, Epigamia. The company recently won awards at the 4th Cold Chain Industry Award (presented by Future Supply Chain) for Best-in-Class Distribution Network Strategy and at the Global Logistics Excellence Award (presented by Tata Strategic Management Group) for Supply Chain Excellence in Dairy Products.
Laurent Marcel, Managing Director of Danone Manifesto Ventures, said, “We are convinced of Epigamia’s great growth potential thanks to its unique positioning on the Indian dairy market. As a modern and innovative brand, it appeals to the ever-growing number of Indian consumers looking for healthier options. This investment, our first with Danone Manifesto Ventures in Asia, is a perfect fit, as Epigamia places taste, quality and health at the center of its model. We look forward to putting Danone’s resources and expertise to use in supporting Epigamia’s talented team as their business continues to expand across India.”
“We are delighted with the increasing adoption of the Epigamia brand with the new-age Indian consumer, which has driven us to double down on our investment in Drums Food. We continue to be very optimistic about the growth potential of healthy and premium dairy products for the Indian market. It’s a pleasure to work with Rohan and the Epigamia team and our partnership, alongside DSGCP, is a great example of how we would like to back young brands over the long term,” added Arjun Anand, Principal, Verlinvest.
Deepak Shahdadpuri, Managing Director of DSG Consumer Partners, said “Over the last 3 years, Rohan and the Epigamia team have not only created the Greek yogurt category in India but have also established Epigamia as a Fresh FMCG brand, which offers snacking solutions with natural functionality of fresh, preservative-free ingredients with protein boost through lactose-free options. We are excited to invest alongside our long-term partner Verlinvest and new partner Danone Manifesto Ventures in this latest round as we start the next phase of growth.”
The Company also announced that Ramanpreet Sohi, formerly with Innovative Foods, has joined the team as CFO. Launched in June 2015, Epigamia is currently available in 21 SKUs under Greek Yogurt, Artisanal Curd, Snack Pack, Mishti Doi, and Smoothies. The brand retails across approximately 10,000 touch points including modern trade chains like Reliance Fresh, Godrej Nature’s Basket, Future Group Foodhall, Big Bazaar and Hypercity; e-commerce platforms including Big Basket and Amazon; and numerous general trade retailers spread across Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, and Kolkata.
About Drums Food International: Drums Food is an upcoming new age FMCG company in India which markets branded fresh consumer products under the brand “Epigamia”. With innovation as their fuel, they are constantly pushing boundaries by crafting contemporary versions of traditional foods. With their first launch, Greek Yogurt, they managed to bring out curd’s full potential by straining it to boost the protein content and infusing it with real fruit to stimulate the taste buds. Since then, they have launched many products that have pushed boundaries, be it the amazing burst of taste & texture when crunchy granola meets yogurt in Epigamia Snack Pack or launching the first ever lactose-free range of Curd and Mishti Doi in India or even the lactose-free Greek Yogurt Smoothies.
About Verlinvest: Founded in 1995, Verlinvest is a private Belgian investment company created by the founding families of Anheuser-Busch InBev, with offices in Brussels, New York and Singapore. It currently manages over US$2 billion. Some of its current and past portfolio companies include Vitacoco, Popchips, Glaceau Vitaminwater, Oatly, Sula wines, Future group, Drums Food, Veeba Foods and BYJU’s.
About Danone Manifesto Ventures: Danone Manifesto Ventures (DV) is the venture capital investment arm of Danone, the world’s leader in fresh dairy products and one of the largest food and beverage companies with global operations in over 120 countries. Launched in 2016, DV invests in disruptive and innovative businesses that share Danone’s vision of a healthy and sustainable future. DV acts as a strategic partner that provides financial and operational support, leveraging the resources and expertise of its own dedicated team and of Danone around the world, while preserving the autonomy and DNA of its portfolio companies. Some of its investments include Harmless Harvest and Farmer’s Fridge in the United States, and Michel et Augustin and Yooji in France.
About DSG Consumer Partners: DSG Consumer Partners (DSGCP) is a venture capital fund focused on identifying, selecting and investing exclusively in early-stage consumer businesses in India and South East Asia. Their current and past investments include Sula Wines, Cleartrip, Veeba Foods, Mswipe, OYO Rooms (part exit to Softbank), Zipdial (sold to Twitter), GOQii, Chai Point and India Lends. DSGCP has US$100m under management and is now investing from DSGCP II.
For more information, please contact: Tanvi Gangwar [email protected] +91 8800001535