Early investor Helion Ventures has made an exit with a 10X return, stated the company. Kotak Mahindra Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to the company and Helion.
Azim Premji-backed ready-to-cook packaged foods startup iD Fresh Food India, plans to raise about Rs400-450 crore, valuing the company at Rs1800-2000 crore,
ET first reported in September. In this proposed round, existing investor Helion VC will sell their 17% stake while additional 5-6% stake will be diluted for primary capital, accoding to the ET report.
The new fundraise will be used to strengthen its market leadership in the fresh foods business, foster product innovation, build capacities and expand its presence across key markets in India, the UAE, and the US, according to a company statement. As part of its global expansion plans, the company plans to extend its presence to Singapore, Malaysia and other markets in the near future.
Founded by PC Musthafa, Abdul Naser and his brothers in 2005, iD had secured $5.2 million in Series A funding from Helion Ventures in 2014 and $25 million from Premji Invest in 2017.
The company is on track to achieve Rs500 crore in revenue for the current fiscal year while iD Foods achieved a revenue of Rs294 crore in FY21. Last year, the company launched the idli-dosa factory at Anekal in Karnataka with capex investment of close to Rs50 crore.
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“I’m pleased to have NewQuest Partners as our new investor on board, and thank Premji Invest for continuing to support iD in its journey,” said PC Musthafa, cofounder and CEO, iD Fresh Food. “I believe that their confidence in us is testimony to iD’s continued growth and commitment towards building a sustainable and healthy future for all. I also thank the team at Helion for their constant support all these years and believing in us during tough times.”
“While there is a large opportunity set in the fresh food space, iD has a clear edge as a market leader with its deep understanding of consumer preferences and ability to innovate real-time and define industry benchmarks,” said Amit Gupta, Partner and Head of India and Southeast Asia, NewQuest Capital Partners.
iD’s sales from ecommerce have grown by 300% while iD has also partnered with BigBasket to launch a co-branded label, iD Fresho, said the release.
“It is well positioned to continue building on all its channels and platforms in creating a seamless and delightful experience for its customers globally,” said Rahul Garg, Partner, Premji Invest.
Currently, iD caters to over 45 cites, across 30,000 retail stores in India, UAE and US.
The Bengaluru-based brand’s product range includes Idly and Dosa Batter, Malabar Parota, Wheat Parota, Paneer, Thick Curd, ‘Squeeze and Fry’ Vada Batter, Instant Filter Coffee Liquid, Sandwich White Bread and Wheat Sliced Bread. Currently, the company has manufacturing plants in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai and UAE. iD’s manufacturing plant in the US is in the pipeline.
Post-Covid work-from-home culture has increased the demand for ready-to-cook (RTC) food products multi-fold. Consumer spending on home cooking during the Covid pandemic has seen a 61% rise, said a study by RedSeer Consulting.
The RTC market in India stood at Rs 2,100 crore in 2019, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 18% to reach Rs 4,800 crore by 2024.
RTC segment has outpaced pre-Covid growth level by 100 to 800 basis points in 2020, even as ready-to-eat products, including snacks and biscuits, have tapered off after market re-opening, according to Bizom, a sales automation firm.
Tapping the fast growing RTC market, private equity funds have made several investments in the recent past. Fresh meat & seafood brand Licious had raised $192 million in a Series F funding round led by Temasek Holdings and domestic fund Multiples PE in July.
