[Funding alert] Tea brand TeaMonk raises Rs 6.5 Cr led by Inflection Point Ventures

TeaMonk, a Bengaluru-based premium tea brand that offers more than 50 variants of premium tea, has raised Rs 6.5 crore in a Pre-Series A round led by an angel investment platform Inflection Point Ventures with participation from Sarcha Ventures and Lead Angels.

Additionally, US-based HNIs Dr Madhu K Mohan (Eminent Endocrinologist in Washington DC and member of Public Health Foundation of India), Anil Menon (Senior Advisor to Chairman, World Economic Forum), and Jai Gupta (Entrepreneur) also participated in the round. The HNIs participated in their personal capacity.

Ashok Mittal, Managing Director, TeaMonk said, “We are delighted to partner with IPV towards our vision of building a “sourced in India" international speciality tea brand. During the pandemic, we have seen a marked increase in consumer preferences towards healthier beverages like green tea. We have seized this opportunity to launch a range of green tea variants focused on immunity and wellness. This includes Kadha green tea, Spice green tea, and Ashwagandha green tea. There has been a terrific consumer response to these introductions.”

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TeaMonk has raised Rs 23.5 crore funding to date and plans to use the current funding for further market expansion in global markets like the US, the UK, and Canada. The company also plans to launch a subscription-based platform in India to further strengthen its presence in the home market.

Vinay Bansal, Founder and CEO, IPV said, "Tea is a socially connecting beverage. India is one of the largest consumers and exporters of tea in the world. TeaMonk presents us with a large market opportunity in premium green tea where few players are growing fast. We see the premium green tea market exploding in the next three years as more people choose high immunity tea that tastes great, for maintaining their overall health. The large market opportunity internationally and relevance of tea in Indian narrative has prompted us to lead the round in TeaMonk.”

Started in 2016, TeaMonk is backed by former Unilever senior professionals. The company's investors also include marquee angels like Roots Ventures, Hunch Ventures, Suresh Prabhala, Rajat Gupta, Dr Madhu Mohan, Piyush Pandey, Sanjay Khosla, Raj Makkam, Jai Gupta, and Lead Angels.

TeaMonk, in a short span of three years, claims to have established itself as a trustworthy brand for its customers in India and 20 international markets like the US, Europe, the Middle East, and Japan.

The company has built its business around fresh teas sourced from top tea gardens in India, and has built a robust supply chain to ensure shortest go-to-market time to preserve the freshness of the tea leaves.

According to the startup, the speciality tea market is estimated to be worth $5.8 billion globally. In India, the market size is approximately $450 million, growing at 30 percent CAGR.