Venture capital firms Matrix Partners and Sauce.vc have provided seed funding to protein bar maker And Nothing Else, a company launched by a former Unilever executive earlier this year.
Angel investors Shashwat Sharma, chief marketing officer at Bharti Airtel Ltd; Jaydeep Barman, founder of Rebel Foods; and Junglee Games founder Ankush Gera also invested, the startup said in a statement.
And Nothing Else, operated by Mumbai-based Fitshit Health Solutions Pvt. Ltd, was set up by former Unilever marketing executive Shashank Mehta. The company claims its food products don’t include any added sugar, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, and flavouring and colouring agents.
Mehta said this fundraise allows the company to do two “fundamental things” right. “It allows us to hire a great bunch of people who’re passionate about our mission, and it allows us to build our own manufacturing capability,” he said.
Investors
Incorporated in 2006, Matrix Partners has over the years evolved from a quasi-private-equity investor to a conventional venture capital firm that primarily focuses on technology startups. It recently closed fundraising for its third fund.
Matrix has so far backed more than 60 companies including cab-hailing firm Ola, mobile payment services company Mswipe, digital healthcare venture Practo and social commerce platform Limeroad. Some of its recent bets were food and beverage brand &ME, social commerce platform DealShare and dairy starup CountryDelight.
Sauce.vc invests in companies in the food and beverage, apparel and lifestyle, and personal care sectors. Previously, it has invested in Surat-based XYXX Apparels Pvt. Ltd, which runs an eponymous innerwear brand; food and beverage brand &ME; and personalised hair care brand Bare Anatomy.
Deals in the segment
The healthy snacks segment has recorded a few transactions in the recent past. In July, for instance, early-stage investment firm Ankur Capital backed healthy snacks maker To Be Healthy Foods Pvt Ltd.
In January, a unit of Parle Products Pvt. Ltd, which owns the popular biscuit brand Parle-G, invested in healthy snack bar maker WIMWI Foods Pvt. Ltd.
In December 2018, Nutrisattva Foods Pvt. Ltd, which offers protein-based functional foods under the Proliva brand, had secured funding from the Mumbai Angels Network. Three months before, the network had invested in Pune’s Rev Snack Pvt. Ltd, which sells fruit snacks under the brand Frubites.
In June 2018, homegrown private equity firm Rabo Equity Advisors Pvt. Ltd invested in Naturell India Pvt. Ltd, which makes nutrition bars under the Rite Bite brand . In the same month, Wholesome Habits Pvt. Ltd, which sells healthy snack bars under the brand name Eat Anytime, secured $500,000 (Rs 3.43 crore) in seed funding from early-stage investment firm Sprout Venture Partners and a few high-net-worth individuals.
