Matrix Partners India announced on Friday that it has led Rs 70 crore (USD 10 million) round of investment in Country Delight, a direct-to-home, mass premium fresh milk brand. Existing investors Orios Venture Partners also participated in the fund-raise. The funds will be used to scale operations nationally.
India is the largest consumer and producer of dairy in the world. Country Delight is targeting the ~$100 billion dairy market in India, growing over 10% per year. Today, 80% of the market is unorganized, with private brands making up only 10% of the market. Over 90% of the organized milk market is catered to by mass brands.
Commenting on the fundraise, Chakradhar Gade, Co-Founder, Country Delight said, “This is the first step for us to achieve the goal of building one of India's largest consumer brands that is direct to home and driven by consumer obsession (consumer first thinking) in all our products."
Country Delight was founded by Chakradhar Gade and Nitin Kaushal in 2015 and is trying to revolutionise the way milk is consumed in India. The startup controls the whole supply chain and sources its own milk from top quality, local farms, and delivers directly to a consumer’s home with minimal processing and the highest standards of purity, within 24-36 hours. The service is delivered through a convenient mobile application that allows consumers to easily subscribe to the service. Country Delight is also entering several other fresh food segments like yoghurt, paneer, to name a few, while adhering to the same high standards of product quality.
Avnish Bajaj, Founder and Managing Director, Matrix India commented, “We have been tracking Country Delight for more than a year now and have been very impressed with Chakradhar and Nitin’s vision for it backed by strong on the ground execution and customer feedback. We are privileged to invest in this round alongside Orios and thank them and the founders for this opportunity. We believe Country Delight founders’ vision is at the sweet spot of growing consumer aspirations, technology, innovative business models, and is as “Made in India for India” a model as they come and are excited to be a partner on this journey.”