Fresh meat and seafood brand Licious has raised $30 million in a Series E funding round led by Singapore-based Vertex Growth Fund.
Existing investors 3one4 Capital, Bertelsmann India Investments, Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, and Sistema Asia Fund also participated in the fundraising.
Licious will use the funding to expand to more Indian cities, augment capabilities in existing markets, strengthen omnichannel presence and power new product launches, especially in the ready-to-eat category, the company said in a press statement.
The company said it would also focus on upgrading the Indian meat and seafood ecosystem by bolstering technological intervention, expanding its pool of employees and training them on niche skills that the industry needs.
"The fact that 92 percent of the Indian meat and seafood industry is still unorganised indicates the huge, underserved community that exists, as well as the opportunity that this sector has to offer,” Licious co-founders Vivek Gupt and Abhay Hanjura said in the statement. The traditional meat and seafood industry is in dire need of tech intervention, quality standardisation and a skilled talent pool, they said.
The company, at present, employs 2,000 people across seven cities and process more than 17,000 orders a day. It claims to have clocked a growth rate of 300 percent year-on-year and aims at reaching a target of Rs 1,000 crore by 2023.
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