Raw meat e-tailer Zappfresh gets $3 mn from Dabur exec, VC firm

DSM Fresh Foods Pvt. Ltd, which runs raw meat e-tailer Zappfresh, has raised Rs 20 crore ($3 million) in a combination of angel and institutional investment.

The company said in a statement that Amit Burman, vice-chairman of consumer goods major Dabur India Ltd, had led the round. SIDBI Venture Capital, which backs Mumbai-based food delivery startup Holachef, also participated.

Gurugram-headquartered Zappfresh said that it will use the money to grow its supply chain, expand to other cities, and for hiring.

“This investment will aid our back-end support along with expansion in newer markets after having laid a strong foundation in Delhi-NCR,” said Deepanshu Manchanda, chief executive officer of Zappfresh.

Manchanda and Shruti Gochhwal had started Zappfresh in 2015. The firm procures fresh meat such as chicken and mutton from farms and delivers it to the end customer on the same day that an order is placed on its portal. It also sells associated ready-to-eat products such as ham, sausages and salami.

Manchanda had worked at digital wallet provider MobiKwik before co-founding Zappfresh. Gochhwal, an engineering graduate from Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, also had a stint at MobiKwik apart from working in the ethnic garments sector.

Zappfresh claimed to have achieved operational breakeven in February 2016.

“The business model is innovative and the use of technology in the supply chain management has allowed for the possibility of a sustainable scale-up capability,” said Dabur's Burman.

The company had earlier raised an undisclosed amount from two angel investors in August 2016. A year before that, Zappfresh had raised Rs 2 crore ($300,000 at the time) from angel investors. Zappfresh's peers in the online meat ordering and delivery business include Bangalore-based Delightful Gourmet Pvt Ltd, which operates online meat and fish ordering platform Licious.

Last March, Licious had secured $10 million (Rs 65 crore) in Series B funding from a clutch of investors.