Naagin, a fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) startup in the hot sauce segment, has secured over $1 million (around Rs 7.5 crore) as a part of its seed funding round from actor Abhishek Bachchan, Eight Innovate Fund-I and high networth individuals.
The Mumbai-based firm will deploy the fresh proceeds to expand its online and offline channels across India. It also plans to invest further in research and development as well as in product innovation.
Founded by Arjun Rastogi, Mikhel Rajani and Kshitij Neelakantan in 2019, Naagin makes hot sauces, chili oils and spice essentials. The brand's popular hot sauce line has four flavour variants: The Original, Kantha Bomb, Smoky Bhoot and Naagin 65 Hot Sauce.
“As Naagin has progressed along its journey, it’s had investors who have shared a vision with us to grow our brand and prove that Indian spices and flavours can be found all over the world. With the support of our investors and customers, Naagin Sauce is able to produce the highest quality and most original products on the market today,” said Mikhel Rajani, co-founder, Naagin Sauce.
“I personally had a chance to try it and liked the product and the flavour instantly. The packaging was brilliant, the name was fun, I could see the passion of the brand – all the ingredients came together well, so the conversation with the brand felt natural,” said Abhishek Bachchan.
Eight Innovate Fund I is an early-stage venture capital fund managed by 8i Ventures.
In June, VCCircle reported that 8i Ventures’ founding partner Vikram Chachra hopes to mint at least two more unicorns in its portfolio over the next year as he aims to further his bets in the fintech space.