Happilo raises $25M from Motilal Oswal Private Equity

Happilo,  a healthy snacking direct-to-consumer brand,  has raised $25 million from Motilal Oswal Private Equity (MOPE). It had previously raised $12 million from A91 Partners in February 2021. 

The Bengaluru-headquartered company was founded by Vikas Nahar in 2016. Through its digital first, omni channel strategy, it offers high nutrition snacks such as nuts, dried fruits, organic seeds, dry-roasted snacks, trail mixes, nut protein bars, muesli, sourcing them from the farms. 

The company said it is already profitable, with its business growing 4X in the last 24 months.  

“Partnering with MOPE will help accelerate our growth plans and significantly scale the business from current levels,” said Vikas Nahar, founder and Chief Executive Officer.

With this funding, Happilo aims to build its D2C business. It is targeting to reach Rs 2000 crore revenue in the next 4 years. 

“The investment would be used for significant product expansion across healthy snacking categories, acquisition of synergistic food brands, brand building, capacity expansion and deepening the distribution infrastructure,” he added. 

Through the last year, investors have shown a lot of interest in D2C brands, with more and more consumers opting for digital channels to order products from.  Earlier this year, Delhi-based Honasa Consumer — the parent company of D2c brands Mamaearth and The Derma Co. — entered the unicorn club, crossing a $1 billion valuation. .

“As the country increasingly moves online, we believe the digital channels will be a strong enabler for consumer businesses to scale at a rapid pace. Our investment in Happilo marks our entry into the tech enabled consumer franchisees who have the first mover advantage in large unorganised categories, ” said Vishal Tulsyan, Managing Director and CEO of MOPE. 

He added, “We are very excited to partner with the largest and fastest growing brand in an almost entirely unorganised dried fruits & nuts category. Happilo is a young company and Vikas has shown exceptional execution capabilities by scaling the brand in such a short time span.”

VT Bharadwaj, Partner at A91 Partners, said, “We are thrilled at the progress made by Happilo in building a digital first snacking brand in the past year. Covid has emphasised the importance of healthy eating and nutritious food in the mind of every customer. The MOPE investment will help the company accelerate its plans across – brand, product and distribution.”