Mambalam Iyers Food Products Pvt. Ltd, a Chennai-based producer of packaged ethnic food, has raised a Series A round of funding from a high-profile investor, a top company executive told VCCircle.
The firm has raised between Rs 20 crore and Rs 33 crore ($3-5 million) from a South India-based supplier to FMCG firms, said Adithiyapuram Ananthakrishnan, director, Mambalam Iyers Food Products.
“The investor is a big supplier to the country’s leading FMCG firms such as Hindustan Unilever, Procter & Gamble and Dabur,†said Ananthakrishnan without disclosing the name of the investor.
The firm will mainly use the funds for product launches. A part of the money will also go towards marketing and brand building.
“With fresh capital infusion, we can penetrate the market with a range of products that will leverage our expertise in the ready-to-eat food segment,†Ananthakrishnan said.
“The deal involves both equity and preference shares,†he added.
Founded in 2009, by Kannan Mahadevan and Ananthakrishnan, the firm offers pickles, syrups, chutneys and fruit squashes, among others.
The company has a strong presence in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, among other parts of south India. The firm claims that its products are available at more than 1,000 retail outlets. It manufactures all its products at its facility in Chennai.
V-GRO Global Finserv Pvt. Ltd acted as the financial advisor to both the parties. Fox Mandal was legal advisor for the deal.
Mambalam Iyers recorded net sales of Rs 3.9 crore in FY2015-16, according data gathered by VCCEdge, the data research platform of VCCircle, based on the company’s filing with Registrar of Companies (ROC).
The condiments space has seen a few deals over the last couple of years. Last week, Cremica Food Industries Ltd said it is buying back the stake held by Motilal Oswal Private Equity Advisors Pvt Ltd in the company by raising funds from other investors.
In June 2015, Veeba Food Services Pvt. Ltd had raised $6 million from Saama Capital and existing investor DSG Consumer Partners.
In October 2014, Bangalore-based iD Fresh Food (India) Pvt. Ltd had raised $5.69 million from Helion Venture Partners.
In June 2014, south India-based Nilon’s Enterprises Pvt. Ltd had raised an undisclosed amount from private equity firm BanyanTree Capital.
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