Country Delight raises Rs 200 Cr in debt from Alteria Capital

Alteria Capital has provided Rs 200 crore in debt to Country Delight to drive the direct-to-consumer (D2C) food essential brand’s expansion, marketing efforts and capacity building. 

This comes after Country Delight raised $20 million in funding from existing investors Singapore’s sovereign fund Temasek and Venturi Partners in January this year. This round valued the company at $820 million. 

This is the largest domestic venture debt transaction to date, Alteria Capital said in a press note. 

“As the business expands, it is necessary to invest in capacity building across different pockets to improve efficiency in the business. In this context, debt is ideally suited to meet these expansion requirements,” noted Vinod Murali, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Alteria Capital. 

Country Delight provides food essentials and fresh products under a daily subscription model. It serves nearly 1.5 million users across 15 cities. 

“As we scale our operations and prepare for our IPO journey, it is important for us to use various capital sources to improve financial efficiency and also set us up for the next phase of growth,” said Co-founder and CEO Chakradhar Gade.

Gade, along with Nitin Kaushal, started the company in 2013 as it looked to solve difficulties associated with sourcing high-quality milk, especially in urban areas. 

Its peer Mother Dairy has also been bullish on its expansion plans, it plans to invest Rs 650 crore to set up two new plants for processing milk as well as fruits and vegetables.