ENRISSION INDIA CAPITAL Backs Nova Nova to Redefine Gen Z Snacking in India

ENRISSION INDIA CAPITAL announces its investment in Nova Nova, a bold and fast-growing Gen Z–focused D2C chocolate brand in India. The investment, made as part of Nova Nova’s Pre-Series A round through our fund, marks a key step in supporting the next generation of consumer-first food brands.

India is home to over 377 million Gen Z consumers—nearly 40% of the population—who are reshaping the snacking landscape with their demand for lighter, on-the-go indulgences. Nova Nova is at the forefront of this shift, offering playful, bite-sized chocolate formats that are fun, shareable, and designed for everyday enjoyment.

Founded by Harsh Gadia and Nidhi Gadia, Nova Nova has quickly carved out a distinct space in India’s sweet-snacking market. The digital-first brand stands out for its focus on product innovation and format-driven storytelling, engaging modern consumers with indulgent, everyday snacking experiences that match their evolving tastes.

Harsh Deodhar, Principal at ENRISSION INDIA CAPITAL, said, 

Nova Nova captures the essence of what today’s young consumers seek authenticity, creativity, and an emotional connection with the brands they love. With this investment, we look forward to partnering with Harsh and Nidhi as they scale Nova Nova’s presence, expand product innovation, and strengthen its position as a new-age chocolate brand built for global appeal.

Harsh and Nidhi Gadia, Co-founders of Nova Nova, said,

At Nova Nova, we recognised a gap between traditional treats and modern snacking, and an opportunity to create an indulgent, engaging brand of chocolate that speaks to the aspirations and lifestyle of today's consumers. Partnering with ENRISSION INDIA CAPITAL helps us accelerate that vision—to reach more consumers, introduce new product formats, and bring sparks of joy and indulgence to their everyday life.

At ENRISSION INDIA CAPITAL, we are focused on backing visionary founders who are reimagining consumer behavior through innovation and design. Nova Nova exemplifies this ethos by redefining how India’s Gen Z experiences chocolate—making sweet moments more frequent, fun, and meaningful.

With this investment, ENRISSION INDIA CAPITAL and Nova Nova are partnering to bring a fresh take on indulgence to the Indian market, paving the way for a new era in everyday snacking.

FarmDidi Secures $800K Seed Round to Expand Clean-Label Pickles and Rural Women Entrepreneurship

• TiE played a pivotal role in connecting FarmDidi with investors, says founder Manjari Sharma

FarmDidi, India’s fastest-growing homemade pickle brand co-founded by Manjari Sharma, a distinguished winner of the TiE Women Mumbai Chapter 2023 and one of the top six finalists at the Global Competition at TGS Singapore 2023, has successfully raised over $800,000 (₹7 crore) in seed funding. The round was led by Samved Ventures, with participation from LetsVenture, Indigram Labs, IIM Calcutta Innovation Park, and angel investors from premier institutes including IIM Calcutta and Symbiosis.

Since its founding in 2022, FarmDidi has delighted customers with authentic, chemical-free pickles made by empowered rural women entrepreneurs. The company currently operates at an impressive annual recurring revenue (ARR) of ₹18 crore, fulfilling over 30,000 monthly orders through its website and leading e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Blinkit, Zepto, BigBasket, and Swiggy Instamart. FarmDidi is the #1 pickle brand on Amazon India.

The funds will be used to strengthen the team, invest in research and development, enhance technology-driven quality control, and expand its community of “Didis”, rural women entrepreneurs, from 2,000 to over 5,000.

Manjari Sharma, Co-Founder of FarmDidi.

“TiE has played a pivotal role by connecting us with investors and mentors who continue to guide me through this journey. At FarmDidi, our mission goes beyond creating authentic, homemade pickles; it is about empowering thousands of rural women to become confident entrepreneurs, preserving traditional recipes while embracing technology to deliver quality and trust to every household. This journey is proof of the power of passion, purpose, and perseverance coming together to create meaningful impact,” said Manjari Sharma, Co-Founder of FarmDidi.

Serial Entrepreneur & President, TiE Mumbai, Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, said, “TiE Mumbai has consistently stood at the forefront of entrepreneurial innovation. Our vision is to expand TiE’s impact through collaborations and engagement with startups, investors, corporates, academia, and policymakers. Supporting visionary founders like Manjari Sharma and brands like FarmDidi is exactly the kind of entrepreneurship that drives India’s growth and empowers communities.”

FarmDidi combines time-honored recipes with stringent food safety protocols to assure the nostalgic taste of “nani’s kitchen” and meet modern-day quality expectations. By enabling rural women to produce small-batch pickles at the farmgate, FarmDidi delivers clean-label products while creating sustainable livelihoods.

"Despite 90 lakh SHGs, the sector remains under-realized, held back by weak distribution, inconsistent quality, and limited branding. FarmDidi bridges these gaps with a tech-led, scalable model rooted in clean-label, homelike ingredients, input traceability, and easy consumer access, bringing high-quality homemade products to scale.", said Amit Srivastava, Partner at Samved Ventures.

"Beyond building a strong food brand, FarmDidi is creating distributed micro-production jobs for thousands of entrepreneurial women, addressing critical gaps in employment and social development. Bharat needs many such tech-enabled models that can amplify government programs and multiply their impact," he added.

Echoing this, Shanti Mohan, Founder of LetsVenture, said: “What excites us about FarmDidi is its rigorous focus on quality, clean-label products, and the deep trust it has built with consumers. But what makes it truly inspiring is that it’s not just a food brand, FarmDidi, it is proving that purpose and performance can go hand in hand, and we believe this blend will make it a household name across India and beyond.”

About FarmDidi

FarmDidi was founded in 2022 by Manjari Sharma, Anukrit Johari, and Asmita Ghodeshwar with a vision to become India’s most respected and loved food brand by providing traceable, tested, and traditional high-quality food while empowering at least 1 million rural women.

The company has been recognized by notable institutions such as UNDP, Shark Tank India, Wharton Economic Forum, Govt. of Maharashtra, and NITI Aayog’s Coffee Table Book. Often described as building a “Tech-led Lijjat Papad”, FarmDidi draws inspiration from the women-led cooperative that transformed 45,000 lives and built a ₹1,600 crore ($200M) empire.

Over 1 Lakh Micro Food Processing Enterprises Funded Under PMFME Scheme, in Last 5 Years

Under central government-sponsored PM Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme across the country, a total of 1,08,580 micro food processing enterprises have been approved for assistance under PMFME Scheme till 31st October, 2024. The scheme is operational from 2020-21 to 2025-26 with total outlay of Rs. 10,000 crores.

Union Minister of State for Food Processing Industries, Shri Ravneet Singh Bhittu, shared this information in a written reply to Loksabha.

He informed that the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) in India has been actively supporting small and medium-scale food processing entrepreneurs through various schemes. Here are some key initiatives:

Central Sector Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY) Scheme

• Objective: To incentivize food processing entrepreneurs for setting up or expanding related industries.
• Financial Assistance: Provides mostly credit-linked financial assistance (capital subsidy) to entrepreneurs.
• Projects: Includes 41 Mega Food Parks, 399 Cold Chain projects, 76 Agro-Processing Clusters, 559 Food Processing Units, and more.

Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Food Processing Industry (PLISFPI)

• Objective: To support the creation of global food manufacturing champions and promote Indian brands in international markets.
• Implementation Period: From 2021-22 to 2026-27.
• Outlay: Rs. 10,900 crores.

Centrally Sponsored PM Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme

• Objective: To provide financial, technical, and business support for setting up or upgrading micro food processing enterprises.
• Operational Period: From 2020-21 to 2025-26.
• Outlay: Rs. 10,000 crores.
• Approved Enterprises: Over 1,08,580 micro food processing enterprises have been approved for assistance under this scheme.

These schemes, which are not region or state specific but demand driven, aim to boost the food processing industry, enhance operational efficiency, and support the transition to sustainable and modernized food processing practices.

Anushka & Virat Kohli Backed Plant-based Meat Brand Blue Tribe Foods Earns Sustainability Seal

Blue Tribe Foods, goes completely Plastic and Carbon Neutral 

Blue Tribe Foods, the visionary plant-based meat brand endorsed and invested in by Bollywood sensation Anushka Sharma and cricket maestro Virat Kohli, has marked a significant milestone in its journey towards a sustainable future. In collaboration with The Disposal Company (TDC), Blue Tribe Foods has achieved both plastic and carbon neutrality, solidifying its commitment to environmental responsibility.

Additionally, the brand's dedication to sustainability has been rewarded with the prestigious Sustainability Seal for its innovative products.

Founded by Sandeep Singh and Nikki Arora Singh, Blue Tribe Foods has been a trailblazer in the plant-based meat industry, offering a delectable range of alternatives made from pea, soybeans, lentils, grains, and other vegetarian ingredients. Their products have not only wowed taste buds but have also contributed significantly to a greener planet.

The investment and endorsement of Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli catapulted Blue Tribe Foods into the spotlight, amplifying its mission to reshape India's meat consumption habits. As advocates for plant-based eating, the celebrity couple's decision to support Blue Tribe Foods was a testament to their values of compassion for animals and environmental sustainability.

According to the Plastic Waste Statistics report, a total plastic packaging of 2.26 million tonnes has been covered under EPR for the year 2022-23, so in this polluted era companies like these play a vital role in shaping the environment and thousands of lives.

In a ground-breaking move, Blue Tribe Foods joined forces with The Disposal Company (TDC), led by Ms. Bhagyashree, a renowned expert in measuring, financing, and reducing plastic waste. Through this partnership, Blue Tribe Foods has not only offset its plastic footprint but also taken significant strides toward reducing carbon emissions associated with its operations.

“In partnership with the disposal company, we're dedicated to upholding our commitment to environmental responsibility. Their invaluable assistance in neutralizing our plastic waste aligns seamlessly with our brand's core ethos. Together, we conscientiously pave the path towards a more sustainable future, ensuring that every bit of plastic waste is properly managed. In this formal collaboration, we remain steadfast in our mission to nurture a greener planet, as we endeavor to create a better world for all” - Sohil Wazir, Chief Commercial Officer, blue tribe foods.

Bhagyashree Bhansali

“The Sustainability Seal awarded by TDC to Blue Tribe Foods signifies the brand's dedication to rigorous environmental standards, social responsibility, and ethical business practices. This coveted seal is a testament to the brand's unwavering commitment to producing innovative, eco-friendly, and delicious plant-based meat products”. – Bhagyashree Bhansali, Founder of The Disposal Company

Blue Tribe Foods has not only garnered praise from conscious consumers but has also become an inspiring force for other brands to follow, encouraging them to prioritize sustainability and contribute to a more environmentally conscious society.

TDC offers solutions that empower brands to become plastic-neutral and actively contribute to a cleaner environment. With stringent standards and a trusted reputation, TDC is the go-to choice for over 60 brands globally.

Healthy Food Startup Madmix (formerly Daily Staple) Raises the Pure-Funding Round Led by Prime Securities At Valuation of ~ ₹12 Cr

Mumbai-based healthy food startup, Madmix (previously known as Daily Staple), owned & operated by Mel Sante Food Production Pvt. Ltd., has achieved a remarkable milestone by securing a substantial investment in its pre-seed funding round at the valuation of approx. INR 12 cr. The funding is spearheaded by Prime Securities and features prominent investors like Authum Investments and Team India Managers.

The funds raised will be utilised towards marketing efforts, sales team expansion and future product development.

This strategic injection of capital is set to boost Madmix into a new era of growth and opportunity after two years of bootstrapping. Despite limited financial resources, the company managed to expand its presence globally, reaching markets in Nepal, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and the USA. Additionally, it has made a significant impact in India, with its products available in over 650 stores nationwide.

Further, with Madmix's recent rebranding and forward-thinking approach, the company is poised to achieve new heights in the healthy and innovative foods space.

Madmix has a range of ready-to-eat snacks made from millets like jowar including puffs in 5 different flavours. They also have a millet based ready-to-cook range which includes dosa, idli, chilla, bread mix, and flour mix. Madmix is committed to replacing unhealthy eating with good-for-you food, and they are constantly innovating and developing new products.

Gaurav Palrecha, Founder & Director, Madmix said, “We're thrilled by the incredible support our investors have shown – it's a true validation of our journey into the realm of madness. Consumers are becoming more conscious and are making healthy choices and we want to support them in their journey. These funds will enable us to achieve our growth numbers and we're just getting started!“

Mr. Apurva Doshi, Sr Vice President, Equity Capital Markets, Prime Securities Limited said, “In India, snacking is more than just what we eat, it is a tradition and an important part of our cultural identity, as quoted by report ‘State of Snacking Report: A Global Consumer Trend Study'. We think the Company is revolutionising the idea of snacking with its ready-to-eat snacks and ready-to-cook range. We strongly believe in the Company’s prospects and this funding will aid the Company as it marches on in its growth journey.”

Mrs. Niru Kanodia, Director, Team India Managers Limited said, “The idea of mindful and healthy eating will drive the demand for snacking in India. We firmly believe that Madmix is rightly placed and offers balanced nutrition in every product combining with health and taste.”

About Madmix

A healthy food startup with the mission of providing healthy and tasty food products at pocket-friendly prices, Madmix is passionate about creating unique and delicious flavours. The team of experts is dedicated to crafting innovative taste sensations that will surprise and delight your taste buds. Madmix constantly explores new combinations and techniques to bring you exciting and memorable flavours. The company strive to make customers happy and content with the products.

Kyt Ventures Invests in Zomoz’s $2 Mn Funding Round

Zomoz team (left to right) — Akash Singh, Shouvik Dhar, Shreyas Darne

Kyt Ventures, which has backed companies such as BHive Alts, ClearDekho and Hotify has invested in Zomoz, India’s fastest-growing QSR momo brand, in its ongoing $2 million bridge round.

The round is being led by global angel network Kyt Ventures, with the participation of prominent angel investors and family offices, including Rebel Foods, which previously participated in the mop-up.

Hyderabad-based Zomoz, which has been backed by foodtech unicorn Rebel Foods, plans to use the funds to increase production capacity, launch new brands, and expand its footprint.

The startup will use the capital to expand in existing cities and enter new Tier 2 and 3 cities, with an aim to run 90+ operational outlets across India in the next 8-12 months. It is also expanding internationally, starting with 13 outlets in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The launch of new brands is also in the pipeline.

Currently, the second-largest Indian momo brand has a presence in 68 locations via its 14 retail outlets and 54 cloud kitchens across seven cities Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mysuru, Pune, Mangalore, Chennai, and Mumbai.

Zomoz, based in Hyderabad, started operations in 2015 and remained bootstrapped for six years before Rebel Foods invested in the popular momos brand as a strategic investor in November 2021.

The company was founded by ISB alumnus Shouvik Dhar along with SP Jain Alumni Akash Singh and Shreyash Darne, with the aim of delivering momos and dumplings across India. It operates self-owned outlets across different formats such as mall kiosks, high streets and corporates. Over time, it has become the most scalable momo brand in India, relying on its centralized production, frozen model, and low-cost plug-and-play kiosks.

“The demand for authentic momos has been growing steadily over the past few years. As a brand that is solely focused on serving high-quality momos, we are uniquely positioned to capture a significant share of this market. We are aiming to clock Rs 3 crore in monthly sales by year end while achieving company-level EBITDA profitability by July 2023,” said Dhar.

Zomoz plans to raise $4-5 million in Series A in the third quarter of next year to fuel its ambitious aspirations of capturing a large share of the ever-growing momos market predicted to grow to $1.1 billion by 2026 from $400 million in 2022, growing at a CAGR of about 23%, as per industry reports.

Zomoz rivals include market leader Wow Momos as well as Momo Monk, Momo Zone, and Momo King. CEO Dhar, however, is confident of leaving a dent in the momos market.

“We are well-positioned to disrupt the market due to our centralized production, leading to consistent taste and quality reflected in its ratings; frozen model, ensuring zero wastage and no dependency on skilled staff at the outlet; and our capital efficiency in terms of returns generated against the CAPEX required per outlet. By combining operational and capital efficiency, we are confident that we can touch Rs 100 Cr ARR faster and with less investment than any of us before,” Dhar.

Kyt Ventures, Co-Founder, Dr. Anu Gupta said, “It’s been a pleasure investing in a fellow ISB alumnus’ venture, which is built on solid business fundamentals. Zomoz is at a sweet spot in its business and presents a promising opportunity for its investors. The company has seen significant growth in the past few years and is now closer to breaking even, which makes it a lucrative investment opportunity.”

Kyt Co-Founder Gagan Gupta said, “Zomoz has demonstrated exceptional growth and has become the fastest-growing momo brand in India. The team has built a scalable business model that has allowed them to expand rapidly across several cities, and now internationally. We believe in their vision and are confident in their ability to capture a significant share of the growing momo market. With our investment, we aim to support Zomoz's expansion plans and help them achieve their goal of becoming the leading momo brand in India and beyond."

About Zomoz

Zomoz, operated by Prabhati Foods Pvt Ltd, is India's fastest-growing QSR momo brand. The company is backed by Rebel Foods and Kyt Ventures. Currently, Zomoz has a presence in 68 locations across seven cities, making it the second-largest Indian momo brand in the country.

About Kyt Ventures

Kyt Ventures is a unified funding, incubation & acceleration platform, backed by its global angel network having a reach of 2500+ angel investors and institutional investors. Kyt, India’s most investor friendly angel network, started with a mission to build an all-inclusive community of investors, entrepreneurs and ecosystem stake-holders.

KV is sector agnostic and invests upto $1 Million in early-stage startups from pre-seed to pre-series A.

KV’s founders, Gagan Gupta & Dr Anu Gupta, are renowned angel investors, featured individually amongst India’s top angels. Having an experience with 100+ startup investments, the duo manages a portfolio of 15+ startup investments. Dr. Anu has been featured amongst 100 Women entrepreneurs shaping and building India (HT Mint 2022). Both the founders are alumni of prestigious global B-Schools (ISB, India & IE, Spain) having diverse corporate and entrepreneurial experience.

FoodTech Start-Up Pluckk Acquires Meal Kit Brand KOOK for $1.3 Mn Value of Cash and Equity Combined

Deal valued at $ 1.3 Mn

To enter the booming $15 billion global meal kit market

Pluckk, a first-of-its-kind digital lifestyle-oriented fresh food brand in the Fruits and Vegetables (F&V) space, has announced the acquisition of KOOK, an Indian food-tech startup that offers a range of DIY Meal Kits for consumers, at a deal value of $ 1.3 Mn through a combination of cash and equity.

KOOK offers DIY Meal Kits that make cooking easier for everyone by providing pre-portioned ingredients and easy-to-follow recipes. With a reputation for catering to various dietary preferences and cooking skills, KOOK has a strong presence in Delhi and Mumbai.

Pluckk's acquisition of KOOK is a strategic move to tap into the enormous growth potential of the meal kit market and presents significant opportunities for Pluckk. The global market is projected to grow from 15.21 USD Billion in 2021 to 31.5 USD Billion by 2025 , representing a 20% CAGR. With KOOK's strong target audience and expertise in meal kits, Pluckk is well-positioned to deliver the best quality fresh food to its end consumers in this thriving $15 billion market.

Speaking on the acquisition, Nelson D’Souza, CFO, Pluckk, said, "We are thrilled to welcome the young team of KOOK to the Pluckk family. Their demonstrated expertise in building a world-class product in the meal-kit space, coupled with our commitment to provide safe and chemical-free produce, will enable us to offer an unbeatable farm-to-fork experience to customers across India. In the post-covid world, Ready to Cook Meal Kits have emerged as a sought after cooking trend with customers preferring to control the quality of food consumed while having more dining options which we look to leverage by offering this differentiator to our customer experience. Further, from a unit economics point-of-view, this is a welcome addition to our portfolio and will help us accelerate our journey towards building a profitable business."

KOOK, Co-Founder, Arpitta Jerath said, "We are thrilled to be joining forces with Pluckk and becoming a part of their innovative fresh food ecosystem. The synergies between what we are building at KOOK and the lifestyle first approach that Pluckk brings to the Fruits & Vegetables category seems very compelling. Our range of DIY Meal Kits, combined with Pluckk's digital lifestyle-oriented brand, will allow us to offer even more convenience and healthy meal options to the discerning customers in the ever-growing markets Pluckk operates in."

KOOK, Co-Founder, Nikhil Thatai said, "At KOOK, we are committed to making cooking easy and convenient for our customers and we are excited to bring our range of DIY Meal Kits to even more people through our synergies with Pluckk. We estimate the market size of meal kits to be around 1B USD by 2025 in India and we look forward to leveraging our expertise in meal kit delivery to offer healthy and delicious meal options to cater to this booming market in our country."

Pluckk offers a farm-to-fork product line for health-conscious consumers, featuring safe and chemical-free produce through their ozone wash and traceability program. Customers can shop based on food trends such as gut health, heart health, and diabetes, and access a wide range of products beyond the basics, including organic and exotic produce. Pluckk's products are available on their own D2C platform and partner platforms like Blinkit, Swiggy, Zepto, Dunzo, and Amazon.

About Pluckk

Pluckk is a B2C fresh produce food tech supply chain platform founded in July 2021. Co-founded by Pratik Gupta and seed-funded by Exponentia Ventures (EV) with current operations in Bangalore & Mumbai. It is the first of its kind digital lifestyle-oriented fresh food brand in Fruits and Vegetables (F&V) space. Pluckk provides a platform to facilitate the ‘farm-to-table’ concept. It offers a large variety of special selections of gourmet fruits and vegetables directly to end consumers, doing away with mediators. The platform has already on boarded 500 plus farmers across Mumbai and Bengaluru and plans to reach the 1,000 mark in the next 6 months. 

About KOOK

KOOK is a DIY Meal Kit Startup founded by ISB Alumni Nikhil and Arpitta in 2020. With presence across Delhi & Mumbai, KOOK was started with a mission to make at home cooking hassle free and easy. KOOK aims to make the task of cooking wholesome good quality meals less daunting with ready to cook kits that come with semi prepped and pre-portioned ingredients that are freshly sourced, hygienically packed and have ZERO preservatives. KOOK Meal kits enable people to make a perfect meal from start to finish at home in under 20 minutes.

12 Food Tech Startups from Around the World Join the ProVeg Incubator

The 10th cohort focuses on high-impact technologies, regions, and solutions

Twelve pioneering, impact-driven startups, hailing from Thailand, Singapore, China, Israel, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, South Africa, the Netherlands, Ireland, the UK and the US, have joined the ProVeg Incubator for the 10th edition of its world-renowned accelerator programme for plant-based, fermentation and cultured food startups.

The team were looking for the most impactful food tech and biotech as well as ingredients solutions to speed up the transformation of our unsustainable food system. Here’s who they found.

The 12 startups joining Cohort 10:

Be Better My Friend (Netherlands, 2021): Founders Marikevan Beurden and Joost Lindeman have developed plant-based butter and cream alternatives for professional pastry chefs. Find out more at bebettermyfriend.com

FoodSquared (UK, 2021): Founders Frankie Fox, Wesley Yland, and Abi Aspen Glencross are using a ‘patent pending’ process and proprietary ingredient formulations to create next-generation plant-based shellfish, starting with plant-based shrimp. Find out more at foodsquared.earth

Ergo Bioscience (Argentina/US, 2020): Founders Alejandro Barbarini, Maria Laura Garcia, and Eduardo Peña develop complex animal proteins by plant cell precision fermentation. Find out more at ergofoods.com

Plant Origin (Thailand, 2022): Founders Pasakorn Niratbhand, Patarachet Soodsaguan, Panu Srisawasdi, and Akkasit Jongjareonrak are developing plant-based protein alternatives using hydrolyzed rice bran protein, which is extracted from byproducts of rice production. Find out more at plantorigin.co

Fattastic Technologies (Singapore, 2022): Founder Satnam Singh is developing a plant-based fat alternative that improves the sensory properties of alternative protein products with its innovative ‘oil structuring technology’. Find out more at fattastic.tech

Propel Foods (Mexico, 2022): Founders Joel González Gómez and Jayat Elena González Palomeras are using artificial intelligence to produce frozen, ready-to-eat, plant-based meals including tacos, burgers and chorizos with a strong emphasis on health and nutrition. Find out more at propelfoods.com

Algrow Biosciences (Singapore, 2022): Founders Sudhir Kumar Pasupuleti and Sukhi Wei create sustainable and nutritious protein using microalgae. Their clean-label process for removing chlorophyll results in a taste- and colour-neutral protein-rich biomass with a complete amino acid profile, packed with omega-3, iron, and potassium, that can be produced at a cost that is 85% compared to its competitors. Find out more at algrowbiosciences.co

MycoSure (South Africa, 2021): Founders Charles Reed, Greg Brown and James McLaren are developing mycelium-based fermentation technology to provide nutraceutical ingredients in a scalable and cost-effective way. Their B2B platform strategy is to supply branded ingredients to the food and beverage sector. Find out more at mycosure.co.za

StarPlants (China/Israel, 2021): Founders Eran Dubovi and Udi Baran run a plant-based food company specialising in chick pea milk and snacks. The company, which is based in China and led by owners based in Israel, develops, manufactures, and sells the products. Find out more at starplants.com.cn

SomaTech (Ireland, 2023): Founders Dr Tony Martin Callaghan and Dr Alejandra Omarini have developed a scalable solid state fermentation platform that uses fungal mycelium to upcycle locally produced side streams, creating affordable, functional protein-rich food ingredients. (No website currently).

Sticta Biologicals (Chile, 2021): Founders Eduardo Agosin and Andres Ariztia have developed a proprietary microbial platform that uses precision fermentation to produce proteins and natural biochemicals for the food, agriculture and wellbeing sectors. The company’s SmartSerumTM, all-in–one, customised serum-free culture media includes proteins and ingredients for the mass production of cultivated meats. Find out more at sticta.com

Bygg Foods (US, 2022): Founder Smári Ásmundsson is developing a product line including plant-based milk and vegan protein powder, created from upcycled ingredients. Bygg aims to cater to millennials and Gen Z consumers who prioritise health and environmental consciousness. The company aims to expand to a range of plant-based food and beverage categories. Find out more at byggfoods.com

Cohort 10 in Numbers

• 12 startups under 3 years old
• 4 startups from the Asia-Pacific region
• 4 startups from North and Latin America
• 3 startups from Europe
• 1 startup from Africa
• 7 are ingredients companies
• 5 are consumer products companies
• 5 are precision and biomass fermentation companies

Applicants came from 42 countries around the world. Startups in Asia and Europe led the charge, with 29% based in Asia, 29% in Europe, 21% in North America (including Mexico), 12% in South America, 4% in Africa, and 3% in the Australian continent.

Trends we’re seeing:

Next-gen nutrition. The ultra-processed argument against many plant-based products is a hot topic. By applying AI, upcycling side streams of the food industry and leveraging new ingredients, the startups in our cohort aim to provide clean label, nutritious, healthy and less-processed solutions, as this is top of the list for consumers, food producers, retail and food service.

The rise of Asia Pacific. We’re increasingly speaking to startups in this region, echoing the recent findings by the Good Food Institute APAC that investments into alternative protein companies in Asia Pacific rose by 43% from 2021 to 2022 in all three pillars of alternative proteins: plant-based, fermentation, and cultivated.

Precision and biomass fermentation (mycelium). The trend to leverage different fermentation approaches continues to be strong. We’re seeing more startups developing products and enabling tech in these areas. The offerings are promising in terms of impact, potential scale-up and sustainability.

Precision fermentation platforms as enablers. This is an exciting area and we’re seeing more startups exploring it for creating cultivated meat mediums, and plant cell cultivation as a new way to express complex animal proteins like caseins and myoglobin.

Innovative plant-based solutions to replace conventional ingredients. We’re seeing new and promising alternatives coming through, combined with B2B models, including butter, egg, milk and seafood, both for food producers and food service.

Tough investment landscape. Startups are finding it harder to find lead investors and close rounds, while rounds and due diligence are taking longer. Many investors are less active and are focusing on portfolio support.

About the ProVeg Incubator

The ProVeg Incubator is designed to support mission-driven startups working on plant-based, fermentation, and cultured-food products and technologies. Startups must have the potential to remove animals from the global food system, either by providing alternatives or with supporting technology.

The ProVeg Incubator, which is based in Berlin, Germany, is particularly interested in startups developing egg, seafood, and chicken alternatives, as well as other meat and dairy alternatives, ingredients and technologies that can help substitute animal-derived staple products on a mass scale. Focus areas include functional ingredients, precision fermentation and biomass fermentation, cell-cultivation and molecular farming, along with the enabling tech, processes, and platforms.

What does the programme include?

Startups that join the ProVeg Incubator are supported with a tailor-made accelerator programme, one-on-one expert mentoring, access to the Incubator’s extensive networks of industry contacts, and up to €300,000 in funding and in-kind services.

Since its launch in late 2018, the ProVeg Incubator has supported more than 80 startups from around the world, including Remilk, Better Nature, Vly Foods, Bosque Foods, Haofood, Omni, Kern Tec, Greenwise, Mushlabs, Formo, Hooked, the Live Green Company, and the Nu Company.

Collectively, the ProVeg Incubator’s alumni have raised more than €250 million, with products stocked in over 15,000 stores worldwide.

Startups that join have access to a global network including mentors such as Lisa Feria (Stray Dog Capital), Mark Post (Mosa Meat), Ryan Bethencourt (Wild Earth), David Benzaquen (Mission: Plant LLC), David Brandes (Peace of Meat), Frank Cordesmeyer (Good Seed Ventures), among many others.

ProVeg Incubator facts and figures

• Number 1: ProVeg Incubator was the first incubator for plant-based and cultured food startups when it began in 2018 and continues to lead the charge
• Mission-driven: ProVeg Incubator is part of the not-for-profit food awareness organisation ProVeg International https://proveg.com/
• Not-for-profit: All funds are reinvested in ProVeg’s overarching mission to reduce global animal consumption by 50% by the year 2040.
• Unique: ProVeg Incubator is the only accelerator programme with a mission to take animals out of the value chain, with all potential gains reinvested in charitable work
• Focused on startups: The team has screened more than 1,000 startups and worked with more than 80 alumni companies from all over the world through its programmes

More than the sum of its parts: ProVeg Incubator is not just an accelerator, or an investor, but a global organisation with partners across industries, spanning both commercial and Not-for-profit. 

QSR Chain 99 Pancakes Ventures into FMCG Segment

99 Pancakes, India’s first pancakes QSR chain, has announced its entry into the FMCG segment, with its first product, Brownie Brittle Chips. The product range will be available in 4 variants – Almond, Pistachio, Strawberry and Coffee. The Brownie Brittle Chips will be manufactured and marketed by parent company, Euphoriya Hospitality and sub-branded by 99 Pancakes.

99 Pancakes, which came into existence in the 2017 with its first pancakes specialty outlet in Kala Ghoda, Mumbai, currently has 40+ outlets across 15 cities of India. The brand already has a great fan following amongst the dessert connoisseurs in Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Prayagraj, Varanasi and many more cities and with the entry in the FMCG segment, the brand aims to cater to the tastes of the already existing customers and snack lovers as well.

 

Brownie Brittle Chips Strawberry 

Brownie Brittle Chips Pistachio

Brownie Brittle Chips Coffee

99 Pancakes’ Brownie Brittle Chips are typically cut into bite-sized pieces and are perfect for snacking, sharing, adding to desserts, or used as a topping for ice cream, yogurt, or pudding. These are crisp, thin, and crunchy snacks made from chocolate brownie batter.

Vikesh Shah, Founder, 99 Pancakes, “We started 99 Pancakes six years ago with a specialty product – Pancakes, and we’ve been able to penetrate the markets across India very well. The overwhelming response from our customers has given us the courage and motivation to further expand ourselves and venture into a new segment of Fast Moving Consumer Durables (FMCG). The Brownie Brittle Chips is our first product in the FMCG segment. With this product, we wish to strike the mid-meal snacking craving or a dessert after-meal. The different flavours that we’re offering will match the taste buds of all generations.”

“Going forward, in the FMCG segment, we’ll soon launch many more consumable items”, adds Vikesh.

Brownie Brittle Chips are priced at INR 110 and available in all stores of 99 Pancakes, the online store of 99 Pancakes, Swiggy, and Zomato.

In the upcoming time, Brownie Brittle Chips will be available on Amazon, Flipkart, Big Basket, Blinkit, Zepto, and many more such marketplaces.

About 99 Pancakes

99 Pancakes is one of the leading QSR chains in India, which specializes in offering a variety of pancakes. The QSR started its first outlet in Kala Ghoda in Mumbai 2017 and within a span close to 5 years already has a presence in 14 cities across India with 40+ outlets.

99 Pancakes has a USP of having open kitchens in all its outlets where the customers can experience the making of the pancakes, live. Another USP of the brand is that it serves Mini Holland Pancakes with a variety of toppings. Other than pancakes, the brand also has Waffles, Crepes, Cakes, Pastries & Desserts, French Macarons, Chocolates, Croissants, Pizzas, Shakes, Coffee & Beverages in its menu.

Leading Cloud Kitchen Startup BigSpoon and Mouni Roy Collaborate to Launch A Premium Pizza Brand, The Pizza People

The Pizza People is BigSpoon’s first of its kind Neapolitan Pizza chain at scale, exclusively available for deliveries only

Targeting Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities, the first phase of launch will see 35 outlets go-live across 15 cities, including Pune, Ahmedabad, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Surat and Indore

Bigspoon, a leading Cloud Kitchen start-up, in association with its celebrity investor, Mouni Roy today launched a neo-pizza brand, The Pizza People going live in 15 cities across 35 outlets. The Pizza People is India’s largest Pizza brand launch in a single day as Bigspoon leverages its extensive cloud kitchen network across Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities. The first phase of launch sees 35 outlets go-live across 15 cities, including Pune, Ahmedabad, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Surat and Indore.

The Pizza People is the first-of-its-kind Neapolitan Pizza chain at scale, exclusively available for deliveries only. It brings in premium cheese and imported toppings, on a Neapolitan-styled pizza base made from Australian wheat, clubbed with vented packaging boxes to retain temperature and moisture through its journey of delivery to the customer.

The current market gap of serving premium and hot pizzas across all major cities of India, at a competitive pricing, was identified, to build The Pizza People.

Kapil Mathrani, Bigspoon CEO and Co-Founder said, “We are excited to announce the launch of our bespoke Pizza brand, The Pizza People with Mouni. Her hands-on approach in brand building and her massive popularity adds immense value to Bigspoon.”

“Despite the size of the market, premium pizzas have been an underserved category in the delivery market of India, due to a lack of standardization of food, lack of attention to packaging, and most large brands being franchisee-led. Bigspoon operates only company-owned outlets to maintain the highest degree of quality and processes. We would be doubling our outlet count in the next couple of months, to bring the finest pizzas across the country, and also launch internationally in the next quarter.”, He added.

Celebrity and Investor, Mouni Roy said, “I have always been a huge foodie and I am thrilled to be able to share my love for it with everyone. The Pizza People is dedicated to providing customers with the highest quality pizzas with the freshest ingredients. I can't wait for everyone to try our delicious pizzas and be a part of the TPP family.”

Pizza is one of the largest food categories in the delivery space, and with its second phase of a launch coming up in March, The Pizza People would be available across 50+ outlets in 25 cities. Bigspoon recently raised its Series-A equity funding, in a round of INR 100 Cr, from IAN, NB VC, Go Ventures, and Anicut.

Bigspoon is committed to delivering an unparalleled dining experience to foodies everywhere. Do join this culinary journey and taste the future of food on https://linktr.ee/thepizzapeople

About Bigspoon

Bigspoon is an omni-channel, multi-brand Cloud kitchen start-up, operational since September 2019. The Ahmedabad headquartered brand’s distinctive portfolio consists of Makhni Brothers, Mehfil Biryani by Zakir Khan, Thali Central, Meals101 and Cocoa Tales, among others, with over 75 kitchens in 16 states and 30+ cities.

Bigspoon recently raised its Series-A equity funding, in a round of INR 100 Cr, from IAN, NB VC, Go Ventures, and Anicut.

IAN Leads INR 4.11 Cr Seed Round in Cheelizza

The company will focus on rapidly expanding their presence in Mumbai by opening 20 new stores in the next 12 months.

Mumbai-based Cheelizza – India Ka Pizza, a pure vegetarian pizza chain from Mumbai, has raised INR 4.11 crore in a seed round led by the Indian Angel Network (IAN). The round was led by IAN Investors Hari Balasubramanian, Uday Chatterjee, Deval Tibrewal and Rajeev Sarda. Co-investors Sagar Daryani, Founder of Wow! Momo, Karan Tanna, Founder of Ghost Kitchens, and Rahul Surana Principal at an international fund also participated in the round.

A bootstrapped business until now, operating 10 stores across Mumbai & Gujarat, Cheelizza will focus on rapidly expanding their presence in Mumbai by opening 20 new stores in the next 12 months. The homegrown pizza chain is already hiring talent across senior leadership roles in Business, Operations, HR, Marketing, along with 100+ team members for their frontline store operations.

Incepted in 2013, Cheelizza is the brainchild of its founder & CEO, Animesh Lodha, who left his job at Edelweiss to start this entrepreneurial journey. A one-of-its-kind, ‘Cheelizza - India Ka Pizza’ is “India’s earliest and fastest growing Vegetarian Pizza Chain” focused on targeting vegetarians across the country.

Mr. Animesh Lodha, Founder, Cheelizza, said, “We have been operating in stealth mode over the last 10 years, focused on building the business on strong fundamentals. We have had a 10x revenue growth and have clocked 20%+ store level ebitda. We currently sell over 30k+ Pizzas per month with an over 50% repeat order rate. Cheelizza is the first step towards building a Portfolio of Pure Vegetarian Food brands offering an alternative choice to a large Vegetarian population. Over the next 10 years, we will be working on building an Indian Pure Veg Platform built on strong fundamentals of high value, higher quality & highest trust & take it global. We are very grateful to IAN for supporting us and helping us on our growth journey. We will use this capital to hyperscale our business & expand geographically.

Hari Balasubramanian, Lead Investor at IAN said, “Cheelizza is uniquely positioned as a pure vegetarian brand and has a vision to become a global pure vegetarian food platform to serve customers across the globe. Animesh and his team are go-getters and we are extremely confident that they would be able to build a portfolio of pure vegetarian food brands which will emerge as a category leader in the QSR space.”

Cheelizza currently has 10 stores, out of which 3 are operated via a franchising model. Furthermore, as a part of its expansion strategy, the company will soon enter the Bangalore and Pune markets and plans to open 20 stores next year.

About IAN

Indian Angel Network is India’s first and world’s largest business angel network with close to 500 members across the world, comprising the who’s who of successful entrepreneurs and dynamic CEOs. With investors from 12 countries, IAN’s presence spans 7 locations, which includes cities in India and the UK. The network is sector agnostic and has funded start-ups across 19 sectors in India and 7 other countries growing global footprint companies. With an excellent track record, IAN has been giving excellent cash exits year-on-year to its investor members, for the last 12 years. Some of its marquee investee companies include Druva, Spinny, Box8, Uniphore, Wow! Momo, Consure, Fareye, NOCCARC, Propelld, Skit.ai amongst many others.

IAN Fund, an INR 375 crore VC fund is a uniquely differentiated seed/early stage Fund that aims to transform India’s entrepreneurial landscape. The fund invests in innovative companies in sectors including healthcare and medical devices, VR, AI, software as a service, marketplaces, fin-tech, big data, artificial intelligence, agritech, and hardware. With this, IAN has created the single largest platform for seed and early-stage investing, enabling entrepreneurs to raise from Rs. 25 lakhs to Rs. 50 crores.

About ‘Cheelizza - India Ka Pizza’

‘Cheelizza - India Ka Pizza’ is the first pure vegetarian Pizza chain which started its journey in 2013. It was the first pizza company sensitive to the pure vegetarian community against the popular belief of pizza being perceived as a non-vegetarian delight. The brand has grown from strength to strength from 30L MRR to 1.4Cr.+. They are currently operating 10 stores and have a target of 100 stores by end of 2025. They aim to become a Global Indian Vegetarian Food Service Platform and cater to the global need for vegetarian delights. In that direction, they have also taken exclusive distribution rights of Sweetish House Mafia, a gourmet cookie brand, and are also launching Country’s first Pure Veg Biryani Brand “Biryani Can” on World Veg Day - 1st October 2022.

IIT Guwahati Alumni's D2C Healthy Food Brand Anveshan Gets $2 Mn in Funding Led by DSG Consumer Partners

Anveshan, a D2C healthy foods brand, has raised pre-series A funding of 2M USD led by DSG Consumer Partners, Force Ventures and We Founder Circle. This funding round also had participation from angels, including Amit Jain and Amit Hooja from Netgraph, Vardhman Group, Rahul Sharma from Zetwerk and many more.

The company will use the fresh capital to hire talent, standardise operational processes and R&D of existing and new product categories. It also plans to expand its reach in the premium retail stores of Mumbai, Delhi NCR, and Bengaluru.

Anveshan Founders: Aayushi Khandelwal, Kuldeep Parewa and Aayushi Khandelwal

Founded in 2020 by three IIT Guwahati graduates, Aayushi Khandelwal, Akhil Kansal and Kuldeep Parewa, Anveshan provides minimally processed food products prepared traditionally in rural areas. The brand aims to deploy tech solutions to become 100% transparent, traceable and quality controlled at every step of the supply chain. The consumers can know the complete farm-to-fork journey and quality reports about any Anveshan product they have purchased.

Their current product portfolio includes A2 cow ghee, wood-pressed edible oils, raw honey, healthy sweets, and beverages. "We are passionate about Indian age-old superfoods and traditional wisdom passed down by our grandmas. Bringing back those recipes in a way that interests the modern generation is our ultimate goal", the startup's co-founders said.

"Anveshan’s remarkable growth in the last two years has shown strong consumer demand for Indian-origin authentic food products. In general, heavy food processing in factories and the addition of preservatives have led to the deterioration of food quality in the market. Hence, we are setting-up micro food-processing units near the farms to bring the best of the food materials directly from farmers to consumers. This setup helps in efficiently shortening the supply chain, adding value to farmers' raw produce and generating employment opportunities in the rural areas", they added.

Commenting on the investment, Hariharan Premkumar, Investment Director and Head of India, DSG Consumer Partners, said, "We are excited to deepen our partnership with the Anveshan team on their journey to build the leading ‘minimally processed’ food brand in India. The team is committed to empowering and facilitating fair-trade with the farmers by setting up micro-processing units near the farms. The brand has grown rapidly in a capital efficient manner and is well poised to be a leading food brand trusted by customers for quality, traceability and transparency.”

IAN invests INR 1 Cr in Toffee Coffee Roasters, a Specialty Coffee Startup

Aimed at driving innovation in coffee and taking it to the masses, the Mumbai-based startup will use the capital to strengthen its product portfolio and grow its topline 10X in the coming months 

Specialty coffee startup Toffee Coffee Roasters has raised seed funding of INR 1 Cr from the Indian Angel Network (IAN). The funding round was led by IAN Lead Investors Hari Balasubramanian, Uday Chatterjee and Rajeev Sarda. Bootstrapped until now, the startup will utilize the fresh capital to strengthen its product portfolio and grow its topline 10X in the coming months.

Toffee Coffee Roasters Co-founders Nandini Shrivastava & Rishabh Nigam

Founded in 2019, Toffee Coffee Roasters is the brainchild of Nandini Shrivastava and Rishabh Nigam, owing to their shared love for coffee. Born in the back lanes of Bandra, this Mumbai-based startup aims at creating the best craft coffee for its customers, sourcing coffee beans from some of the finest estates worldwide by closely partnering with the farmers.

Nandini and Rishabh’s love for a good cup of coffee took them to several estates in Wayanad, Yercaud, Coorg, and Chikmagalur, only to discover that most of India’s high-quality coffee is exported to European Nations. To widen the penetration of freshly roasted coffee in India, Toffee Coffee Roasters was born, and the business expanded within the first three months.

Following its six-sigma step of procurement and artistically roasting the beans, Toffee Coffee Roasters provides its customers with some great blends, and only sells coffee that has been out of the roaster for less than 48 hours for the customers to enjoy it at its peak flavor. The company has over 20 SKUs of coffee with several categories, including Speciality Coffee Blends, Single Origin Coffee, Fermented Coffee, Barrel Aged Coffee, Easy-to-brew Pour Over Coffee, Cold Brew Coffee, and South Indian Filter Coffee.

Toffee Coffee Roaster co-founder Nandini Shrivastava said, “India is one of the top coffee producers and a USD 1.5 billion market. Still, people struggle to find a good cup of coffee in the country. Toffee Coffee Roasters was established to make great coffee blends accessible to everyone. In three years of our existence, we have had 40% repeat customers, which is a significant figure in the sector. While we started by targeting coffee lovers in Tier-1 cities, our reach has expanded to Tier-2 cities post COVID-19. With IAN backing us up, we intend to deepen the focus on our existing product categories. We are also looking to expand our team and have already started hiring across multiple roles. However, we believe in lean teams, so we plan to get the best talent onboard to solve the challenges in the sector.”

IAN Lead Investor, Rajeev Sarda said, “The coffee industry in India is growing, and we are witnessing the emergence of a new segment of consumers who are extremely taste conscious and are looking for speciality coffee with innovative blends. We firmly believe that new-age brands like Toffee Coffee Roasters are well positioned to garner a sizeable share of this growing demand. We at IAN are excited to be a part of this journey, and believe that Nandini & Rishabh have all the capabilities required to create a global consumer brand in Coffee from India.”

So far, Toffee Coffee Roasters has served over 25,000 customers since it pivoted the business online. Over 80% of the orders are placed on its website, and the rest are from aggregator platforms like CRED, Amazon, etc.

The Indian instant coffee market is evaluated at USD 0.7 billion, growing at a CAGR of 13%. While the traditional players are into one or two coffee variations, they still currently capture 77% of the market. New players have emerged to form a small portion of the market and are growing gradually to capture a significant market share.

About Toffee Coffee Roasters:

Toffee Coffee Roasters is a Mumbai Based Coffee Company known for its freshly roasted signature coffees. Known for their Barrel Aged Coffees, Fermented Coffees, Single Origin Coffees and Speciality Blends, the company sources coffee from some of the finest coffee estates of the world and roasts it artistically. As of date Toffee Coffee Roasters has served over 30,000+ users since lockdown.

Indian Angel Network is India’s first and world’s largest business angel network with close to 500 members across the world, comprising the who’s who of successful entrepreneurs and dynamic CEOs. With investors from 12 countries, IAN’s presence spans 7 locations, which includes cities in India and the UK. The network is sector agnostic and has funded start-ups across 19 sectors in India and 7 other countries growing global footprint companies. With an excellent track record, IAN has been giving excellent cash exits year-on-year to its investor members, for the last 12 years. Some of its marquee investee companies include Druva, Spinny, Box8, Uniphore, WOW Momos, Consure, Fareye, NOCCARC, Propelld, Skit.ai amongst many others.

IAN Fund, an INR 375 crore VC fund is a uniquely differentiated seed/early stage Fund that aims to transform India’s entrepreneurial landscape. The fund invests in innovative companies in sectors including healthcare and medical devices, VR, AI, software as a service, marketplaces, fin-tech, big data, artificial intelligence, agritech, and hardware. With this, IAN has created the single largest platform for seed and early-stage investing, enabling entrepreneurs to raise from Rs. 25 lakhs to Rs. 50 crores.

High Protein Bread Maker The Health Factory Raises ₹2 Cr Expanded Seed Funding

Funds acquired used to build out a stellar team, expand geographies and scale up operations and manufacturing

The Health Factory, a pioneering Mumbai-based brand that brought protein bread for the first time to India raised a 2 crores seed round funding from Venture Garage, Vikas Nahar — Founder, Happilo and other marquee angels.

Launched by Vinay Maheshwari, The Health Factory is a holistic F&B brand that combines nutrition, taste, science, and love in all its products. Vinay gained global exposure working across natural resources and pharma industries from a young age and understood the business know-how deeply. After being told not to eat bread too often for its unhealthy characteristics, Vinay set out on a quest to find healthier variants and redesign nutrition without having to change lifestyles.

Vinay partnered up with Jos Vast, an expert in leveraging baking and science and Mohit Sankhala to take care of manufacturing scale-up, quality control and assurance, and that is how The Health factory was born. The founders today have hands-on experience across all processes and are further working towards building a stellar brand that standardises bread, breaks stereotypes and becomes truly known as the bread-wallahs of the country.

“At The Health Factory, we have been working hard towards producing everyday consumer products that don’t need changes in habits, but are extremely nutrient heavy, tasty, and good for you. With this seed funding round, we are grateful to see the investors’ confidence in us and their belief in our aim as well.

We will use the funds raised to scale and streamline our operations and manufacturing process, better our IT infrastructure, build out a talented team and ramp up our marketing efforts. We are excited to take this much-loved range of food products to other cities soon,” said- Founder Vinay Maheshwari.

Today, The Health Factory produces a delicious range, including India’s first protein bread available in Whole wheat, Multi-protein, and Multi-protein Lite variants as well as Zero Maida bread. The breads have 6 diverse types and 300% more protein than any other breads found in the market, along with 20% lesser carbs, high-fibre, zero cholesterol and low sugar and fat. These breads suit and are healthy and safe to eat for all ages and people, right from a child to the old age— a feat no other bread brand can claim.

Commenting on the funding announcement, Vikas Nahar, Founder Happilo said, “The company has demonstrated excellent market fit and aligns perfectly with my vision and mission. Am thrilled to be working with Vinay to bring this brand to every home in India. What distinguishes them from other manufacturers is their focus on producing a high-quality, daily product giving them great opportunities to become a mass brand.”

“Indian Millennial Consumers are actively making healthy food choices daily, and THF is providing exactly that by substituting high nutritional bread for our regular bread without sacrificing taste. This is a fantastic way to eat healthy bread without changing your eating habits or disrupting your lifestyle. We really love his punchline "Bread Badlo Aadat Nahi", said - Vivek Kumar, CEO Venture Garage

The products are available on Swiggy, Instamart and Big Basket, as well as modern and general trade stores such as Nature’s basket across Mumbai and some parts of Pune as of now. They have a robust subscription D2C model that allows consumers to choose products and home delivery frequency and has seen extremely high retention rates.

The Health Factory India’s first High-Protein Bread, with carefully selected ingredients and the courage to try something new. It wasn’t long before we came up with the idea to transform the guilty pleasure of chocolate into the high-protein and high-fiber Protein Cookies. The bakers in our team grew, and now, so has our range of ‘pro-nutrition’ products, striving to revolutionize nutrition, one meal at a time. Our quest goes on. The healthy factory focuses on R&D that is constantly looking for ways to improve product quality and the benefits it provides through rigorous testing, as well as making the bread more nutritious. and by doing so, we avoid harming the environment while maintaining our reputation. For us, the journey is not over. It gains momentum every time we discover a new way to redefine a healthy lifestyle.

Mumbai Based D2C Health and Nutrition Food Startup "The Filling Station" has Come up with Nutrient Balanced Food Products

The Filling Station, is a Mumbai-based D2C Health and Nutrition Food Startup founded in 2022 by Mahua Ghosh & Suvankar Ghosh. The Filling Station is providing Delicious, healthy & nutrient balanced food products that are healthier alternative to the food everyone eats, to help achieve holistic health benefits without compromising the tastebud. Some of their products are Traditional Indian Laddoo sweetened with Palm Jaggery, Nutrient Rich Laddoo made with Oats, Makhana, seeds & Nuts, Date Spread and Makhana & 4 Seed Trail Mix.

Mahua Ghosh, Co-founder and CEO

The Founder while sharing about the reason for the inception of their brand, said that they think most Indian face the problem of not having healthy options in the food they love to eat. While looking for healthy alternatives in the market themselves, the founders realized how "unhealthy", "unhygienic", the "healthy" options were. They found that if the food was tasty, it was not healthy, product claiming to be low in calories was high in sodium. Understanding this issue, with a team of experienced Nutritionist and food technologists, they have developed food products that are not only healthy & but nutritiously balanced and delicious at the same time.

The Filling Station is delivering their products across India through their website www.thefillingstion.in. Within their 2 months of operation, the founders have shared that their products are being very  much appreciated and loved. They are receiving high repeat orders.

Mahua Ghosh, Co-founder and CEO, who is also a Certified Nutrition Expert, believes in creating value through their products. It is very important to spread the power of healthy living among everyone. Having 11 yrs. of experience of running fast food joint, cloud kitchen & frozen retails, she prefers to remain connected to her customers so that she can understand their need and come up with solution through the products that are developed.

Suvankar Ghosh, Co-founder, believes in healthy living. He is a health freak and believes in spreading healthy living among all. He had been through the journey of turning to healthy living from a very unhealthy lifestyle. Having witnessed this journey first hand, he wants to provide the option of not only healthy snacking but holistic snacking to everyone.

The Filling Station is part of the Startup Ecosystem with The Startup Chaupal, a Jaipur based incubator.

You can reach out to them through email mahua@thefillingstation.in.

Uttar Pradesh-based Food Startup Corn Junction Gets Pre-Seed Funding From GetFunded

Uttar Pradesh is geared to be one of the top 3 states in Startup Ranking. The state government is working towards establishing a robust startup ecosystem here in Uttar Pradesh.

Now, Uttar Pradesh has 47 incubators to date and there will be more in the coming year. The Startup Policy aims to build a holistic startup and entrepreneurial ecosystem in the state.

In a latest, the sate capital, Lucknow, - based GETFUNDED, a platform that is helping startups from Ideation to Scaling, announced its first deal, which is a food startup — Corn Junction. 

The young generation is opting to be their own boss rather than work for someone else. They are filled with so many innovative ideas and just need support from the ecosystem consisting of mentors, and guides who can handhold them and take them to next level.

GETFUNDED,  a Lucknow-based platform that is helping startups from Ideation to Scaling, is CoFounded by a Mother-Son duo — Aparna & Aditya.

Aparna Mishra, being in the Startup ecosystem for many years, have gathered a good experience of working and mentoring start-ups across India.

Therefore, they started a dedicated platform GetFunded to provide solutions to the start-up communities which will have answers to all their queries and doubts regarding new and existing ventures.

"With GetFunded, we aim to reach out to millions of startups, upcoming new ventures, and entrepreneurs to help them in doing sustainable businesses," said Aparna Mishra. 

"We are happy to announce our First deal in GETFUNDED , Corn Junction, the Lucknow-based Startup, registered with Startup India is all set to shine in the World," added Aparna. 

CORN Junction was founded by Ajay, Vivek, & Sandeep, is a trio of inspiring and energetic young minds who got noticed by NRI and an angel investor Mr. Manoj Mishra who then got interested in the Founders and loved their business model.

Ajay Chaurasia shared their expansion plans that in the next year this will open the door for over 50 small farmers to grow sweet corn over an area of 100+ acres in Eastern UP and will be the hub for supplying fresh, natural sweet corn to Corn Junction’s various outlets.

On the other hand, Corn junction will expand its outlets up to 100 in Lucknow, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Kanpur, Gorakhpur, etc which eventually will generate over 140 employment opportunities for youngsters.

Corn Junction received their pre-seed round with an undisclosed amount. They are all set to expand and rework their strategies and look forward to presenting CORN in very tasty, zingy, and healthy flavours.

Best 5 Cloud Kitchens in Delhi-NCR That Are Using Eco-Friendly Food Packaging

From a waste management perspective, high-barrier, multi-layer, biodegradable food packaging could be a useful replacement for current multi-layered packaging that is non-recyclable and non-degradable. Unfortunately, most food packaging that is made from plastic, is typically thrown away rather than reused, recycled or compost. 

While take-away has become a dynamic source of revenue for many restaurants, owners of cloud kitchens believe that setting up such kitchens has proven to be beneficial as many people have been looking for decent quality, healthy, and home-cooked meals during the pandemic, from using biodegradable and recyclable packaging to sourcing local ingredients. Many small businesses begin by making their packaging eco-friendly as a first step toward making a food brand sustainable.

In the food delivery business, packaging serves the essential function of preserving food quality, preventing product spilling or leaking, and communicating the brand messaging to customers. The growing demand for delivery-only services ultimately means more orders, which can exercise pressure on ghost kitchens to deliver a premium experience, despite negligible interaction with customers. The unique selling point of any cloud kitchen is food delivery to the customer’s doorstep. An important element in food delivery is the packaging. The resources, design, superiority of packaging, and how it is handled play a vital role in communicating your brand values to customers. 

A 2020 report said that consumers overlook the environmental impact of food packaging. The report even challenged eaters who have sustainability on their minds to think beyond just the food they consume each day.

Let's take a look at the best five food delivery brands that are offering a restaurant experience to consumers by providing them with sustainable food packaging.

The Chhaunk

Mrs. Manjari Singh and Mrs. Hiranyamayi Shivani founded a cloud kitchen start-up in Gurgaon. The Chhaunk, which gives only Bihari food to all homemade food enthusiasts, such as Champaran meat mutton, litti chokha, Sattu ka sharbat, Bihari chicken curry, Sattu kachori, and methi puri, among others.

A mother's recipe has many essences, including relaxation, tranquility, and a plethora of love. The brand's goal is to provide a home-like ecosystem for the online food delivery industry. The brand has pledged to be a 100% green firm, with no things in the restaurant that would harm the environment. Their packaging is fully plastic-free and biodegradable. They use glass packaging to give lead-free, safe, freeze-proof, leak-proof food that is easily recyclable.

Madam Curry

Madam Curry is a new delivery-only startup launched by Ishaan Kapoor of The Purple Plate catering firm that focuses on innovating with classic recipes to give them a new spin. With Marie Curie as inspiration, Kapoor and his team want to attempt new recipes and approaches to make dining a healthier experience for their clients rather than strive for perfection. Their commitment to sustainable food distribution is amazing. 

The brand uses eco-friendly food packaging such as glass jars, earthenware, and birchwood cutlery that can be recycled and reused at home.

PotPot -Yum Yum

PotPot Yum Yum Indian Delivery provides pots and potlis of chaats, North Indian, and coastal food. Their flavorful, fresh food is made using organic and locally sourced ingredients. Pot Pot derives from the cooking pots, which are the vessels in which the food is cooked, the serving pots, which are the potlis in which the chaat is packed, and the pottery, which is the fine art used to manufacture the terracotta pots.

Pot-Pot Kitchen

Pot-Pot is based on the concept of sustainability. From their glass and terracotta pots to their paper bags and cardboard boxes, they made sure their packaging was easy to recycle and upcycle. This was no simple task.

Pitara Kitchen

Pitaara Kitchen, founded by chef Udit Maheshwari, is where you can eat wonderful North Indian cuisine without the greasy fare. Pitara Kitchen serves ethnic cuisine with a flavorful and nutritious twist. Pitaara Kitchen's credo is to combine traditional flavours with a modern twist. Their menu includes foods such as Jammu's Dogri Meat, Kaala Chana Kebab, Broccoli Makhani, Bacon & Kalimpong Cheese Kulcha, and more. They are supplying eco-friendly packaging throughout South Delhi.

Masala Story

The brand serves authentic North Indian cuisine to its customers, most of whom have twisted from dining-in to ordering-in during the pandemic. Some of their food offerings include freshly cooked Dum Biryani, kebabs, and phirni. One of the exclusive aspects of the company is its traditional style of cooking North Indian style food in earthen pots and then carefully delivering the food in the pots. This helps customers like the fare with a slight mess and a taste of authenticity. Their packing also adopts a sustainable and eco-friendly approach.