BENGALURU: Direct-to-consumer start-up Licious, which sells meat and seafood online, on Tuesday raised $150 million in Series F2. Licious, which turned into a unicorn in October last year, is now the most valued D2C start-up.
The round was led by Singapore-based Amansa Capital, along with Kotak PE and Axis Growth Avenues AIF - I. Apart from existing investors, angel investors including Nithin and Nikhil Kamath of Zerodha, BoAt’s Aman Gupta and Haresh Chawla, Partner, True North, also participated in the round. The funds will be utilised for investment in technological intervention that will help category development and improve overall customer experience, the start-up said. It will also invest in strategic acquisition and widening the brand’s reach.
Vivek Gupta and Abhay Hanjura, Co-Founders, Licious said the brand is the highest valued D2C start-up in India. “This valuation is a direct outcome of the value that we have created for our stakeholders,” they said.
Kotak Investment Advisors, which is a $5 billion AUM alternate asset manager, has invested in Licious through Kotak Pre-IPO Opportunities Fund, a Rs 2,000 crore fund. Avendus acted as the financial advisor to Licious for the transaction.
In July 2021, Licious raised $192 million in its Series F funding Round, led by Temasek and Multiples.
Brunei Investment Agency also participated in the round along with existing investors 3one4 Capital, Bertelsmann India Investments, Vertex Growth Fund, and Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India.