[Funding alert] Licious raises $150M in Series F2 round

Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) meat brand Licious has raised $150 million in Series F2 funding. The fund raise comes six months after the company achieved unicorn status. This round of funding was led by Amansa Capital, along with Kotak PE and Axis Growth Avenues AIF-I. The round also saw participation from angel investors like Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath of Zerodha, Aman Gupta of BoAt and Haresh Chawla, Partner, True North.

The funds raised through this round will be utilised for investment in technological intervention that will help category development and improve overall customer experience. The company will also invest in strategic acquisition and widening and deepening the brand's reach, an official release stated.

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Vivek Gupta and Abhay Hanjura, Co-founders, Licious, said in a note shared by the company, "Today, Licious is the highest valued D2C startup in India. This valuation is a direct outcome of the value that we have created for our stakeholders- investments made towards building the category have borne us rich dividends and have propelled growth for the company and its people."

They added that the growing interest of investors- from India and abroad alike - is an added assurance that obsession with customers, quality and service standards are the pillars of the best businesses.

"The role of a category pioneer is bestowed with many responsibilities as well, which Licious continues to honour. We are committed to building a sustainable, responsible business that will reimagine the animal protein category in India through an optimal mix of global influence and product innovation best suited for India. Through it all, we pledge to not lose sight of our mission statement that we adopted on day one- if we can’t feed it to our families, we won’t sell it to our consumers.”

Avendus acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Licious for the transaction. Kotak Investment Advisors Limited, is a $5 billion AUM alternate asset manager. They have invested in Licious through Kotak Pre-IPO Opportunities Fund, a Rs. 2,000 crore fund. 

S Sriniwasan, MD, Kotak Investment Advisors Limited, said “We are excited to partner with Licious, India’s #1 D2C brand. Due to Licious’ focus on quality and strong execution, it's successfully creating a habituated and loyal customer base. We believe, under the leadership of Abhay and Vivek, Licious is best positioned to serve the fresh meat and seafood need of India. We are excited to partner with Licious on this journey.”