Motilal Oswal PE invests $25 million in Healthy Snacking Startup Happilo
Motilal Oswal PE has invested $25 million in direct-to-consumer (D2C) healthy snacking firm Happilo (MOPE).
A91 Partners invested $12 million in the firm in February of last year.
The funds will be used to expand the company's D2C channel and distribution network, which sells dried fruits, trail mixes, nut protein bars, and muesli, according to a statement.
Happilo, founded in 2016 by Vikas Nahar, competes in the nuts and dried fruits market with Nutty Gritties, Cornitos, and Rostaa.
The firm claims to be a "profitable, category leader" that has quadrupled its revenue in the last 24 months.
“Partnering with MOPE will help accelerate our growth plans and significantly scale the business from current levels,” Nahar, who is also its CEO, said.
He went on to say that the money would be utilised for major product expansion across healthy snacking categories, as well as the purchase of synergistic food brands, brand building, capacity expansion, and expanding the company's distribution infrastructure.
“This will help us serve our customers better and help us achieve our Rs 2,000 crore revenue target in the next 4 years,” he said.
In 2018, Motilal Oswal launched IBEF III, a $320 million (Rs 2,300 crore) fund.
Happilo is the company's tenth investment, with over 97 percent of its cash already committed.
“As the country increasingly moves online, we believe the digital channels will be a strong enabler for consumer businesses to scale at a rapid pace,” says Vishal Tulsyan, managing director and CEO of MOPE.
Happilo is MOPE's first foray into the tech-enabled consumer franchisee space, which has a first-mover advantage in vast unstructured categories, according to Tulsyan.
MOPE recently established IBEF IV, which had a target corpus of Rs 4,500 crore ($600 million) and closed for the first time in November 2021 at Rs 2,660 crore.
“Covid-19 has emphasized the importance of healthy eating and nutritious food in the mind of every customer. The MOPE investment will help the company accelerate its plans across brand, product and distribution,” said VT Bharadwaj, partner, A91 Partners.
A91 Partners invested $12 million in the firm in February of last year.
The funds will be used to expand the company's D2C channel and distribution network, which sells dried fruits, trail mixes, nut protein bars, and muesli, according to a statement.
Happilo, founded in 2016 by Vikas Nahar, competes in the nuts and dried fruits market with Nutty Gritties, Cornitos, and Rostaa.
The firm claims to be a "profitable, category leader" that has quadrupled its revenue in the last 24 months.
“Partnering with MOPE will help accelerate our growth plans and significantly scale the business from current levels,” Nahar, who is also its CEO, said.
He went on to say that the money would be utilised for major product expansion across healthy snacking categories, as well as the purchase of synergistic food brands, brand building, capacity expansion, and expanding the company's distribution infrastructure.
“This will help us serve our customers better and help us achieve our Rs 2,000 crore revenue target in the next 4 years,” he said.
In 2018, Motilal Oswal launched IBEF III, a $320 million (Rs 2,300 crore) fund.
Happilo is the company's tenth investment, with over 97 percent of its cash already committed.
“As the country increasingly moves online, we believe the digital channels will be a strong enabler for consumer businesses to scale at a rapid pace,” says Vishal Tulsyan, managing director and CEO of MOPE.
Happilo is MOPE's first foray into the tech-enabled consumer franchisee space, which has a first-mover advantage in vast unstructured categories, according to Tulsyan.
MOPE recently established IBEF IV, which had a target corpus of Rs 4,500 crore ($600 million) and closed for the first time in November 2021 at Rs 2,660 crore.
“Covid-19 has emphasized the importance of healthy eating and nutritious food in the mind of every customer. The MOPE investment will help the company accelerate its plans across brand, product and distribution,” said VT Bharadwaj, partner, A91 Partners.
