Greek yogurt brand Epigamia raises Rs 90cr in a Series-B round

Drums Food International, the parent company of Greek yogurt brand Epigamia and ice-cream chain Hokey Pokey, announced that they have raised Rs 90 crore in a Series B round from institutional investors like Belgium-based Verlinvest and DSG Consumer Partners (DSGCP).

The round also includes venture debt participation from InnoVen Capital. This new capital will be used for increasing their palette of flavours, brand-building activities as well as ramping up capacity.

Verlinvest and DSGCP had also participated in their Series A round of funding worth Rs 44.5 crore, and their contribution to the growth story of Epigamia and Drums Foods International gave the founders the confidence to enter into business with them once again.

"Partnering again in this round was a no-brainer and with their support we plan to continue expanding our product lines, categories, and geographies. With the recent additions to our leadership, including Siddarth Menon, Francis Vidhayathil and Dharmesh Joshi, who are the missing pieces to our dream team, the sky is the limit,” says Rohan Mirchandani, Co-Founder & CEO, Drums Food International.

Launched in 2015, Epigamia is one of India's first premium Greek yogurt brands. Made using an ancient Greek process of straining yogurt with all-natural ingredients and no preservatives, it is currently available in eight flavours, and has over 4,000 retail touchpoints including stores like Reliance Fresh, Godrej Nature’s Basket, Future Group Foodhall and Big Bazaar, and Hypercity; e-commerce platforms such as Big Basket; as well as numerous general trade retailers spread across Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, and Hyderabad.

Since their previous round, the company claims to have expanded distribution by over five times and launched Epigamia Snack Pack, a unique product that packs in dry snacks that can be combined with Greek yogurt.

“We are very happy with our partnership with Epigamia and Rohan. We believe there is great growth potential to offer premium dairy products to Indian consumers and Epigamia addresses this with a compelling proposition,” says Nicholas Cator, Executive Director, Verlinvest.

Deepak Shahdadpuri, Managing Director, DSG Consumer Partners, an early stage venture capital firm, says he has been impressed by Epigamia's "unrelenting focus on innovation and delighting the customer."

"With this new round of funding, we will see exciting new products coming to the market focused on healthy and functional benefits. Indian consumers are increasingly looking for exciting new products that taste delicious,” he adds.

Arjun Anand from Verlinvest’s Singapore office, and Prashant Chhaya, former executive director at Cadbury (Mondelez International), will also be joining the company’s board of directors.

“Greek yogurt has great health and wellness benefits and we believe that Greek yogurt and premium dairy in general will become large categories in India. Rohan has put together a great board of directors with talent across strategic areas and I look forward to joining them soon,” said Arjun.

"The value-added dairy market in India is predicted to grow in double digits over the next few years. With the rising popularity of probiotic products, superior offering, higher level of brand recall and awareness and increased market penetration, Epigamia is well placed to lead the Greek yogurt market in India," added Prashant.