Delhi-based Vahdam Teas raises $1.4 M in Series A funding

Delhi-based tea brand Vahdam Teas has raised $1.4 million in a Series A round of funding. Led by Fireside Ventures, the round saw participation from existing investors Singapore Angel Network, Mumbai Angels, and a few HNIs. With this investment, the total capital raised by Vahdam Teas, which was launched in 2015 and raised seed funding earlier this year, stands at $2 million.

Fireside Ventures is an early-stage venture fund that invests in sectors like food and beverages, personal care, home products, education etc. A press release from Vahdam Teas has said that Kanwaljit Singh of Fireside Ventures will be joining the board of the company.

Kanwaljit has said in the press release, “India is well known globally as a producer of the finest teas and it’s heartening to see a young brand and a young, dynamic entrepreneur leading the charge to showcase the best of Indian teas to consumers across the world. Vahdam Teas has built a great supply chain and traction in the last two years and we are privileged to join him in this journey and hope to help build an iconic Indian brand that’s enjoyed by consumers across the world.”

Focus on freshness

An online-only brand, Vahdam Teas works with about 175 tea plantations and small growers across all seven tea-growing regions in India — Darjeeling, Assam, the Nilgiris, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Bihar — as well as in Nepal. They procure leaves directly from tea growers within 24–72 hours of production.

Average delivery time to the US is four working days from despatch. It is a maximum of six days to Europe, North America, and South Asia.

Bala Sarda, 26, Founder, Vahdam Teas, says, “Over the last two years, we have worked very hard in setting up an efficient supply chain, right from the estates of India to our consumers in the USA and other parts of the world, with a sole vision to make available the freshest cup of tea to consumers by leveraging technology. We have been receiving phenomenal feedback from consumers across the world and plan to now further penetrate our key markets with customer acquisition and marketing.”

Vahdam Teas sells to 84 countries on its own website as well as in India on marketplaces like Amazon India. It claims to have grown 7x in the last 12 months and plans to use the fresh funds to further focus on marketing, product development, and strengthening logistics in its key market, the US, from where it gets 70 percent of its revenue.

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