Mumbai-based LightSaber Food Ventures Pvt. Ltd, which sells health snacks through online and offline channels under the Snackible brand, has raised $175,000 (around Rs 1.12 crore) in an angel round of funding led by a clutch of individual investors and high-net-worth individuals (HNIs), a top executive told VCCircle.
The investors, who participated in the round, include Nibhrant Shah (founder of Isprava and Themis), Anandbir Singh (founder of Anandini Financial Services), Anirudh Sheth (founder of Wealth Whispers), Pratik Singhi (CEO of Lakshya Consulting), Jitendra Mahnot (CEO of Startech Engineers India) as well as Mastercard executives Vikram Mehta and Murali Nair.
In 2015, Snackible raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from Nibhrant Shah.
The fresh round of funding will be used for expanding operations in India and abroad as well as marketing and hiring across verticals, said Aditya Sanghavi, founder of Snackible.
Founded in May 2015 by Sanghavi, Snackible offers healthy snacks at affordable rates. It sells 26 varieties of health snacks under categories such as sweet, savoury, low cal, high fibre, high protein, gluten-free and lactose-free. Its snacks include cream and onion whole-wheat thins, flavoured makhanas (roasted fox nuts), dark chocolate ragi cookies, ready-to-eat whole-wheat waffles and baked bhakarwadi.
The firm started operations as a health snack delivery service through subscription and a la carte modes. It now sells through multiple online and offline platforms, including own website, online marketplaces, offline retail and institutional channels.
“We found that there was a dearth of snacking options which provided an optimum mix of health, taste and affordability,†said Sanghavi.
“Currently, we have about 650 points of sales, which we hope to expand to 2,000 by the end of this year. We will also add around 10 SKUs (stock keeping units) within the next year,†he said.
Work is also already underway to introduce a diabetic-friendly snack line, he said.
Snackible has a team of food technologists who come up with recipes for health snacks. The company then outsources manufacturing to eight contract manufacturers. The firm takes care of delivery through a centralised warehouse in Mumbai where it employs about 25 people, Sanghavi said.
Currently, the startup claims to have 25,000 customers and is operational in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi. It delivers offerings to customers in 160 cities through partnerships with courier and parcel services. The company claims to receive around 40 orders a day through online channels and takes up to three days to deliver the orders. Besides its own site, Snackible’s SKUs are sold through 15 online marketplaces that also include Big Basket.
The company’s products are also sold in 175 stores in Mumbai, 70 stores in Delhi and 40 in Bengaluru. These stores include Godrej Nature’s Basket, HyperCITY and Le Marche. According to Sanghavi, online channels contribute about 20% of the total sales while retail stores (40%), institutional partners (30%) and marketplaces (10%) account for the rest.
The company plans to expand to Kolkata, Jaipur and Chennai in addition to other markets in the country. Besides, it is looking at expanding to overseas markets such as the Middle East and the UK.
Snackible aims to achieve an operational break-even within six months. It is also eyeing to raise around $2-5 million in Series-A funding within the end of this financial year, Sanghavi said.
In January this year, Mumbai-based Control Alt Foods Pvt. Ltd, which markets healthy snacks under the brand The Green Snack Co, raised an angel round of funding from two undisclosed HNIs.
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