Dubai family office NB Ventures leads funding round in Teabox

Premium online tea brand Teabox has raised an undisclosed amount from Dubai- based NB Ventures, the family office of former Landmark Group executive and angel investor Neelesh Bhatnagar. The round also saw participation from existing investors, according to an official statement from the company. The statement, however, didn’t specify which of the company’s existing investors participated in the round.

Teabox had raised $7 million (approximately Rs 45 crore) in 2017 in a Series B round from investors such as RB Investments Pte, Accel and Ratan Tata. Singapore’s DBS Bank had joined the round as a debt investor.

Other investors in the company include Dragoneer Investment Group, Keystone Group LP and JAFCO Asia.

The consumer brand which sells its products globally with a focus on the US, Russia and India has been pursuing an omnichannel approach, setting up experience centres. The company which has one experience centre at Bengaluru airport will add five more facilities in the next few months. 

“Having sold 1 billion cups of tea in 117 countries, we are even more upbeat about the opportunities in front of us across the globe and are looking to build our expertise accordingly. This funding has capacitated us to raise a significant amount for our future growth prospects.,” Kausshal Dugarr, founder of Teabox, said. 

Dugarr founded the company in 2012 and works with over 200 plantations in Darjeeling, Assam and Nepal. The holding company of Teabox, Asian Teaxpress Pte, is headquartered in Singapore. 

“We are very excited about investing in Teabox as the tea industry is a huge market, and Teabox is a leading player with complete vertical integration,” Bhatnagar said. “We believe in their vision of creating an omnichannel experience given the existing international appeal of their high-quality products and look forward to assisting them in their expansion plan leveraging our strong experience/connects." 

An early-stage venture fund, NB Ventures has also backed fitness platform Healthfyme, celebrity fashion retailer Universal Sportsbiz and home healthcare service provider Zoctr. 

Similar deals in the segment:

• October 2018: Vahdam Teas raised Rs 18 crore from Fireside Ventures and Mumbai Angels.
• April 2018: ChaiPoint raised Rs 131.5 crore from Paragon Partners.  
• October 2016: Specialty tea retailer The Kettlery received seed funding from Franchise India Brands and sportsperson Abhinav Bindra.