Following a round of fresh fundraise, Licious, has become India’s first D2C Unicorn. The tech-powered, D2C fresh animal protein brand in the country, achieved a billion dollars valuation post-receipt of funding worth $52mn led by IIFL AMC’s Late Stage Tech Fund.
The D2C market in India is at an inflection point and is expected to attain a size of 100 bn+ by 2025. The pandemic has played a major role in accelerating growth for the sector. Despite this, the sector failed to produce a Unicorn until Licious.
Vivek Gupta and Abhay Hanjura, Co-Founders, Licious, "Even though the funding for D2C sector has grown significantly, FMCG is still not considered the most attractive category. We expect that Licious' Unicorn status will change that. The fresh meats and seafood sector is still largely underserved and unorganised that holds a vast opportunity of $40 bn. As the category leader, we aim at paving the way for a second wave of young startups that can join hands in fully harnessing the potential that the industry has to offer. We will continue to build the category through investments in technology for supply chain excellence, product innovation, talent, and vendor partner upgrades.
Chetan Naik of IIFL AMC, says “Licious has disrupted the meat and seafood category, which has largely been unorganized and underserved. ”
Avendus FLF (Future Leaders Fund) has also invested in this round. Avendus Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Licious for the transaction.
