Bengaluru based premium tea brand TeaMonk, has raised Rs. 6.5 crore in Pre-Series A round led by Inflection Point Ventures (IPV), one of India’s largest angel investment platforms in India. Sarcha Ventures and Lead Angels also participated in the round. Additionally, US-based HNIs (high net worth individuals) Dr. Madhu K Mohan (eminent endocrinologist in Washington DC & member of Public Health Foundation of India), Anil Menon (senior advisor to Chairman, World Economic Forum) and Jai Gupta (entrepreneur) also participated in the round. The HNIs have participated in their personal capacity.
TeaMonk has raised Rs 23.5 crore funding till date and plans to use the current funding for further market expansion in global markets like the US, UK and Canada. The company also plans to launch a subscription-based platform in India to further strengthen their presence in the home market.
Ashok Mittal, Managing Director, TeaMonk says, “We are delighted to partner with IPV towards our vision of building a “sourced in India" international specialty tea brand. During the pandemic, we have seen a marked increase in consumer preferences towards healthier beverages like green tea. We have seized this opportunity to launch a range of green tea variants focused on immunity and wellness. This includes Kadha green tea, Spice green tea and Ashwagandha green tea. There has been terrific consumer response to these introductions.”
Started in 2016, TeaMonk is backed by former Unilever senior professionals. The company counts marquee angel investors like Roots Ventures, Hunch Ventures, Suresh Prabhala, Rajat Gupta, Dr. Madhu Mohan, Piyush Pandey, Sanjay Khosla, Raj Makkam, Jai Gupta and Lead Angels.
Vinay Bansal, Founder & CEO, IPV says, "Tea is a socially connecting beverage. India is one of the largest consumers and exporters of tea in the World. TeaMonk presents us with a large market opportunity in premium green tea where few players are growing fast. We see premium green tea market exploding in the next 3 years as more people choose high immunity tea, that tastes great, for maintaining their overall health. The large market opportunity internationally and relevance of tea in Indian narrative has prompted us to lead the round in TeaMonk.”
TeaMonk says that in a short span of 3 years, it has established itself as a trustworthy brand for its customers in India and 20 international markets like the US, Europe, Middle East and Japan. The company has built its business around fresh teas which are sourced from the top tea gardens in India and has built a robust supply chain to ensure shortest go-to market time in order to preserve freshness of the tea leaves.
The specialty tea market is estimated at $5.8 billion globally. In India, the market size is approximately $450 million growing at 30% CAGR.