[Funding alert] Retail aggregator F5 raises Rs 2.5 Cr in pre-Series A round

F5, a D2C brand servicing daily workplace consumption, on Tuesday announced that it has closed $350,000 (approx Rs 2.5 crore) as the first tranche of its pre-Series A round, while it is in the final stage for closing the second tranche in the next couple of weeks.

The current raise saw participation from angel investors including Mohit Satyanand, Chairman, Teamwork Arts who led through LetsVenture platform; Gurugram-based accelerator Huddle, AngelList, Venture Catalysts, Forbes Indian angel investor - Rohit Chanana among others.

The company had earlier raised $400,000 (Rs 3 crore) as part of its seed round in May 2020.

According to the official statement, the startup will use the proceedings to tap the $34 billion daily workplace needs market for consumers. In addition to this, the funds will also be used for R&D, customer acquisition, and tech development.

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Commenting on the fundraise Raghav Arora, Co-founder, F5 said,

“ We are in the middle of closing the next tranche and are very hopeful of the coming times. COVID-19 has made the general public more conscious of hygiene and quality, and made them more tech savvy. Demand for our products is highly inelastic which ensures our demand bounces back immediately post lockdowns”.    

Founded by two IIM Lucknow alumni — Raghav Arora and Lalit Aggarwal, F5 aims to be the one-stop solution for daily workplace consumption for a consumer, both online as well as offline. With over 6,000 daily consumers, F5 started by providing basic refreshments (tea/coffee) at workplaces (initially focused on shops/showrooms/retail chains and other general market establishments) across three formats: subscription, on-demand and retail outlets.

The company claims to have registered 6x growth in business subscribers post-COVID-19, and has served more than 50 lac cups to date, serving more than 12,000+ cups per day to 6,000+ daily consumers.