Paragon Partners leads funding in meat supplier TenderCuts

TenderCuts, an omni-channel meat and seafood supplier, has raised Rs 110 crore ($15 million) in a round led by homegrown private equity firm Paragon Partners.

Last month, VCCircle was the first to report that the Chennai-based firm is in advanced discussions with Paragon Partners to secure its first institutional round of funding.

Nabventures, an agritech-focused venture capital fund, also participated in this round. Nabventures is anchored by Nabard (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development). It has other investors as well.

The funding will allow TenderCuts, operated by GFM Retail Pvt Ltd, to expand operations and consider inorganic growth opportunities. It will also scale up its supply chain and technology infrastructure.

TenderCuts, launched in 2016, has 25 stores across Chennai and Hyderabad which cater to walk-in and online customers. The company’s core product portfolio includes fresh chicken, mutton, seafood, marinades, pickles, and eggs. 

Besides, the firm also has an expansive ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook product range comprising cold cuts, sausages, kebabs, and shawarmas, etc.

Well-funded players in the online meat and seafood supplier space include Licious and FreshToHome.

In October last year, FreshToHome raised $121 million in its Series C funding round led by Investment Corporation of Dubai and Bahrain-based alternative investment firm Investcorp.

Licious has managed to raise close to $90 million in multiple rounds in the last five years. In its latest round in December 2019, it received $30 million from Sistema Asia Fund, Vertex Ventures, Bertelsmann and 3one4 Capital. Another startup Zappfresh has raised Rs 36.6 crore.

Investors

Launched in 2015, Paragon Partners focuses on sectors such as consumer discretionary, financial services, infrastructure services, manufacturing and industrials, and healthcare services.

 It has so far backed engineering, procurement, and construction company Capacite Infraprojects Ltd, high-precision engineering components manufacturer Mani Precision, tech-enabled non-banking financial company InCred, tea café operator Chai Point and women fashion brand eShakti.

 In March last year, the PE firm led a new round of funding in SMEcorner, a microlending platform for small and medium businesses. It also infused fresh money in Cravatex Brands Ltd last year.

 Nabventures had floated a Rs 700 crore (about $100 million) venture capital fund to invest in rural and agriculture-focused startups in 2019. 

 That was the first time Nabard had launched a fund of its own. Until then Nabard had been investing in other VC funds as a limited partner.

 Recently, the Nabard fund made bets on agri-input and produce platform Unnati and agri lending platform Jai Kisan.