Country Delight, a direct-to-consumer food essentials startup has raised ₹200 crore in venture debt from Alteria Capital to fund its expansion, capacity building, and brand marketing efforts.
This comes after Country Delight raised $20 million in Series E funding round from existing investors Singapore’s sovereign fund Temasek and Venturi Partners in January this year. This round valued the company at $820 million. The startup is backed by names including Orios Venture Partners, Z47 (formerly Matrix Partners India) and Temasek.
Over the years, the startup has raised about $200 million across 18 rounds. It counts Matrix Partners and Temasek among its investors.
“At Country Delight, we have always been focused on solving a very fundamental problem for Indian consumers which is to provide fresh, unadulterated milk to customers in a hassle-free manner which then expanded to other essential items. As we scale our operations and prepare for our IPO journey, it is important for us to use various capital sources to improve financial efficiency and also set us up for the next phase of growth,” said Co-founder and CEO Chakradhar Gade.
“As the business expands, it is necessary to invest in capacity building across different pockets to improve efficiency in the business. We are investing further in Country Delight since the company is very well placed to capitalise on its strong operating foundation and access capital markets on a path to eventual listing,” said Vinod Murali, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Alteria Capital.
Founded in 2015 by Gade and Nitin Kaushal, Country Delight operates in the milk products and fresh produce category with its own branded offering. The startup currently serves nearly 1.5 million users across 15 cities in India. It operates under a daily subscription model serving its customers fresh cow & buffalo milk, curd, ghee, paneer, bread, and eggs among others.
Alteria assets worth $550 million crore across three funds. It has invested in over 200 Indian startups including Rebel Foods, Spinny, Ola Electric, Good Glamm Group, Infra.market, BharatPe, Cars24, Ather, Niyo and Bluestone.
