Mumbai-based Rakyan Beverages Pvt. Ltd, which sells cold-pressed juices under the RAW Pressery brand, has raised funding from Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez, a company spokesperson said.
The spokesperson declined to share further details of the deal.
RAW Pressery sells its products in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, Gurgaon, Hyderabad and Chennai. It is looking to expand its presence to 12 other cities.
Besides selling its products through modern retail outlets, including Nature’s Basket, Food Hall and HyperCITY, the company also runs a subscription-based service, wherein juice bottles are delivered at the doorsteps of its registered users. It claims to have an active customer base of 25,000, and produces 8,000 bottles per day.
The Economic Times, which first reported the fundraising, said that the Sri Lankan model-turned-actor invested Rs 3.5 crore ($559,000) in the startup and that the deal valued the juice maker at Rs 120 crore.
The report, which cited the company’s founder Anuj Rakyan, said that Raw Pressery is planning to raise another $10 million by the end of this year to ramp up its manufacturing facility and marketing campaigns.
The company had last year raised Rs 30.8 crore in a Series B round from Saama Capital Management Ltd and DSG Consumer Partners, along with existing investor Sequoia Capital India Advisors Pvt. Ltd.
Raw Pressery is among a handful of Indian startups that cater to the growing demand for healthy ready-to-drink beverages. In the juice category, cold-pressed juices are capturing the consumers’ imagination as they are perceived to be healthier than other packaged products. Investors are, therefore, betting big in this space.
Recently, Fresh Food Concepts Pvt. Ltd, which sells under the Juice Up brand, had secured Rs 13.5 crore in a pre-Series A round led by angel investors Siddhartha Gupta and Ashvin Chadha.
Last month, Delhi-based cold-pressed juice maker MyGreens had acquired Food Ideas Pvt. Ltd-backed JusDivine in an all-equity deal.
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