A Bengaluru-based startup Licious which specialises in online delivery of fresh meat and seafood products direct to consumer stated on Tuesday, October 5 that it has reached a valuation of over $1 billion after a round of funding led by IIFL’s Late Stage Tech Fund and Avendus, making it the first unicorns in India’s the direct-to-consumer market.
In the latest Series G round of funding led by Mumbai-headquartered IIFL Finance Ltd., the company managed to raise $52 million, taking Licious’ to a post-money valuation of $1.05 billion. The round made Licious the 29th startup to attain unicorn status in India this year.
“Even though the funding for [the] D2C sector has grown significantly, FMCG is still not considered the most attractive category,” said Vivek Gupta and Abhay Hanjura, co-founders of Licious, stating his expectations that Licious’ newly attained unicorn identity will bring change in the current standing of the fast-moving consumer goods market.
“The fresh meats and seafood sector is still largely underserved and unorganised that holds a vast opportunity of $40 billion,” Gupta further added. He aims for Licious’ success to pave the way for the second wave of young startups that can come together to explore and harness the potential that the sector has to offer.
This new round of financing comes just months after the company had raised a total of $192 million in a Series F round led by the Singapore government’s investment company Temasek, and Multiples Private Equity, which increased the valuation of the startup to $650 million. The round, which took place in July earlier this year saw the participation of existing investors such as 3one4 Capital, Bertelsmann India Investments, Vertex Growth Fund, and Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, along with Brunei Investment Agency.
While several of Licious’ performance metrics remain undisclosed, the company says that it has grown over 500% in the past year, serving over 2 million unique customers since its inception and 1 million customers every month. “Having grown around 60% since our last fundraise we expect to close the financial year at Rs 1,500 crore,” says Vivek Gupta.