Licious bags $150 million in fresh funding in series F2 round

D2C brand Licious, which sells meat and seafood online, has raised $150 million in Series F2 within six months of becoming a unicorn, at a valuation of $1.6 billion. The round was led by Singapore-based Amansa Capital and Kotak PE and Axis Growth Avenues AIF – I.

Angel investors, including Zerodha’s founders Nithin and Nikhil Kamath, BoAt’s Aman Gupta and Haresh Chawla, partner of True North, invested in the round, and other existing investors. Avendus acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Licious for the transaction.

The funds raised through Series F2 will invest in technological intervention, expand, and launch new product categories. The company will also invest in strategic acquisitions to expand its reach.

“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,” said Abhay Hanjura, co-founder of Licious.

“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,” Vivek Gupta and, in a statement,” added Abhay Hanjura.

Licious, the most valued direct-to-consumer (D2C) startup in India

The company’s current annualized revenue run rate is INR 1,000 crore, which the D2C brand plans to double in the next 12 months. Further, Kotak Investment Advisors Limited has invested in Licious through Kotak Pre-IPO Opportunities Fund.

There are currently only two D2C unicorns in India — Mamaearth and Licious. The co-founders said that Licious is India’s highest valued D2C startup in a press statement. Mensa Brands made it to the club, too, but it is a house of D2C brands, meaning they will acquire smaller D2C brands and scale them further.

On the acquisitions front, Vivek Gupta, co-founder of Licious, said that the company would be looking at businesses that can add long-term value. “Either it can be a newer product vertical which is adjacent to the meat category or add omnichannel play for us. If the business strategically aligns with us, we would be happy to look at it.”