Hillhouse, Sofina lead $29m round for India's Hector Beverages

Existing investors Sequoia Capital, Catamaran Ventures and Footprint Ventures also participated in the round. Hector Beverages will use the new funding to build up its Paper Boat brand of fruit drinks by adding new flavors, setting up a new manufacturing facility and expanding the presence of the brand across India, according to VC Circle.

Hector was launched in 2009 by former Coca-Cola executives. It received a $1.34 million investment from Footprint and Catamaran in 2011, followed by a $5 million round led by Sequoia in 2013, with participation by the other two investors.

Currently the Paper Boat brand accounts for 75% of Hector's revenues. The company also makes the energy drink Tzinga, which is the second most popular energy drink in India after Red Bull. However, Tzinga was pulled from shelves earlier this year on order of India's food regulators after reports of negative health effects. The company is currently reformulating the drink for reintroduction later this year.

Hillhouse provides early stage, growth, mezzanine and pre-IPO funding, with a focus on companies located in China. The firm's last major investment in India was a Series B round for automobile trading portal CarDekho earlier this year.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Consumer
• Expansion
• Venture
• India
• Hillhouse Capital Management
• Sequoia Capital
• Consumer
• Growth capital
• Venture