Ready-to-cook food startup Fingerlix has raised nearly Rs 14 crore ($1.85 million at current exchange rates) in a funding round led by its existing investors.
Existing investors including Accel, Zephyr Peacock, Swiggy and RB Investments participated in the round, which is said to be part of extended Series C financing.
The latest deal happened a year after Swiggy led a Rs 31-crore Series C round in the food startup.
Digital news publication Entrackr, which first flagged the funding, said the latest deal takes Fingerlix's post-money valuation to Rs 337 crore. However, given the price at which the shares have been issued suggests the pre-money valuation of the firm has more than doubled from the last funding announced a year ago.
According to VCCEdge, the data research platform of VCCircle, the firm was valued at Rs 178 crore last year. Based on that, Fingerlix's post-money valuation may have topped Rs 400 crore now.
Mumbai-based Fingerlix, operated by Maverix Platforms Pvt. Ltd, was founded by Shrikrishna Bharambe, Shripad Nadkarni, Varun Khanna and Abhijit Berde in 2015. It provides ready-to-cook products such as batters, mixes, curries, dals, parathas and fully ready accompaniments. The company lets clients customise dishes to their taste.
The startup had received angel money worth Rs 7.5 crore in 2016, according to VCCEdge. The following year in April, it secured Rs 19.5 crore from private equity firm Zephyr Peacock India in a Series A round.
In October 2017, it raised Rs 45 crore in a Series B round from new investor Accel and existing investor Zephyr. In early 2018, it also secured money from venture debt firm Alteria Capital Advisors LLP.
A number of firms in the broader packaged food space have raised funding in the recent past.
Dutch social impact fund Oikocredit and venture capital firm 021 Capital, which is backed by Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, invested in packaged food startup Y-Cook in May 2018.
VCCircle had reported in 2018 that US-based private equity firm General Atlantic LLC had inked a deal to pick up a majority stake in Mumbai-based packaged food products manufacturer Capital Foods Pvt. Ltd, the maker of Ching’s Secret sauce and instant noodles.
In January 2018, Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia invested Rs 152 crore ($23 million) in Southern Health Foods, which markets its products under the brand Manna Foods.
