Temasek, Multiples lead $192m Series F for India's Licious

Brunei Investment Agency also took part, as did existing investors such as 3one4 Capital, Bertelsmann India Investments, and two Vertex Ventures entities – the growth investment arm and the dedicated Southeast Asia and India unit, Licious said in a LinkedIn statement. Several early-stage investors exited their positions. The company has now raised more than $280 million since its inception in 2015.

Founded by Vivek Gupta and Abhay Havnjura, Licious sources products directly from farmers and distributes them to end-consumers via platforms such as BigBasket and Amazon. It operates across 15 cities, completing over one million orders every month. There is an emphasis on quality, hygiene, freshness, and convenience, based on the company controlling its entire supply chain, from procurement through the point of last-mile delivery.

Farm-direct meats are delivered to a central processing center by 4 a.m. every day and packed by 7 a.m. at several dozen distribution centers. Anything that isn’t sold is discarded. Every step of the supply chain maintains a temperature below 4 degrees centigrade, including specially refrigerated delivery scooters. “They’re basically building India’s first cold chain,” Ben Mathias, a managing partner at Vertex, previously told AVCJ. “It’s not a marketplace – it’s a full stack offering.”

Licious claims to have seen growth of more than 500% in the past year, completing deliveries to over two million customers to date. The new capital will go towards investing in technology-led supply chain transformation, improving product quality and customer experience, and geographical expansion. Ultimately, the company has ambitions to go overseas.

This has already been achieved by FreshToHome, which now relies on the United Arab Emirates for around 20% of its revenue. The company – a fish specialist, while Licious is said to focus more on chicken – claims to be the largest fully integrated online brand in fresh fish and meat e-commerce globally. It closed a $121 million Series C round last November.

Licious first received backing from 3one4 and Mayfield India in 2016, AVCJ Research’s records show. They re-upped for the $10 million Series B a year later, which saw the entry of Sistema Asia Fund and Neoplux Capital. The Series C and D rounds – each worth $25 million – closed within three months of one another in 2018. Existing investors were joined by Bertelsmann, InnoVen Capital, Vertex, the UCLA endowment, and Japanese conglomerate Nichirei.

Nichirei, which has interests in food, logistics and biosciences, led the Series D. It approached Licious not long after the Series C – and even though that capital was barely deployed – the Indian company felt unable to turn down a potentially strong strategic ally. “It’s not because we needed the money,” Mathias said at the time. “We just wanted to tap their expertise.”

Vertex Growth led the $30 million Series E in late 2019 with participation from 3one4, Bertelsmann, and Sistema.

Sridhar Sankararaman, a managing director at Multiples, said: "Abhay and Vivek have revolutionized the purchase of poultry, seafood, and meat in the country, delighting customers with their promise of quality, freshness, and timely delivery. Their obsession with customers and quality gives them an eternal edge to create Licious as a category leader and as one of India’s most admired consumer brands.”

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Expansion
• Consumer
• Technology
• India
• TMT
• Temasek Holdings
• Multiples Alternative Asset Management
• Brunei Investment Agency
• 3one4 Capital
• Vertex Growth
• Vertex Ventures
• Bertelsmann Asia Investments
• Growth capital