[Funding alert] Early stage fund Ankur Capital invests in healthy snack startup ToBeHealthy

Early stage fund, Ankur Capital recently said that it has invested an undisclosed amount in Delhi-based snack brand, ToBeHealthy. This is the first institutional round raised by the startup and the funds will be used to expand its retail presence as well as set up manufacturing capabilities. 

Started by IIT and IIM graduates, Mayank Gupta, Ritika Agrawal and Anuj Ghanghoria, ToBeHealthy provides its customers a range of healthy snack options which go beyond the typical low calorie model by delivering tasty products that also retain the nutritious content of the vegetables and fruits.

The brand was launched in October 2017, and transforms vegetables like okra, sweet potato, beetroot, tomato into snacks using a unique technology, wherein it preserves 90 percent of the natural nutrients and fibres.

Speaking on the fund raise, Mayank Gupta, said,

“The funding will be primarily used to set up manufacturing, expanding retail presence and automating processes across verticals. With in-house manufacturing and economies of scale, we hope to expand deeper into the market and develop a wider range of innovative snacks.”

Within a year of launch, ToBeHealthy claims to have increased its retail presence across four cities and is selling through their own web portal and various other e-commerce portals such as Amazon and others.

Mayank, a graduate from IIM Lucknow, had about three years of experience in the food and beverages domain, before diving into ToBeHealthy. He is joined by Ritika Agrawal, an MBA with about a decade of experience in brand and marketing and Anuj, an IIT Dhanbad graduate who previously co-founded Bengaluru-based F&B startup, Chaatbox.

Commenting on the fundraise, Shiva Shanker, VP at Ankur Capital, said,

“We are very excited about our investment in ToBeHealthy – the company’s innovative use of technologies fits well with our thesis around food processing and we were impressed with the scale they have reached in less than a year of the launch. We hope our experience and network will enable the company to strengthen the brand and become a leader in the industry.”

Earlier this year, health food startup, Evolve Snacks raised an undisclosed funding from venture capital firm, ITI Growth Opportunities Fund. Also incubation platform Venture Catalysts in January invested seed capital in snacks brand Keeros Foods Pvt. Ltd.

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