D2C Food Brand WickedGud Bags INR 20 Cr From Orios, Others

D2C food products brand WickedGud has raised INR 20 Cr (around $2.3 Mn) in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Orios Venture Partners.

The round also saw participation from Asiana Alternative Investment Fund, along with a clutch of undisclosed existing investors.

The Mumbai-based company plans to deploy the fresh proceeds to boost its distribution network, scale up branding and marketing, expand product development initiatives and to add Korean flavours to its instant and cup noodles range.

Founded in 2021 by Bhuman Dani, WickedGud offers products such as pasta and noodles, which are made using healthy ingredients. The startup claims that its products are manufactured using innovative steaming and convection air drying (SCAD) technology.

 “Over the past six months, we have seen phenomenal growth in Reliance Retail stores and quick-commerce platforms, with our products resonating deeply with consumers across the country,” said Dani.

The company claims to operate on omnichannel distribution networks along with 2,000 retail outlets across India, including 400 Reliance SMART Bazaar, Signature and Freshpik stores.

This comes at a time when India’s D2C food market sector has been gaining a lot of traction from investors.

For instance, in September, Gujarat-based health foods brand Alpino raised $1.2 Mn (INR 10 Cr) in its maiden funding round from actor Shilpa Shetty, along with a host of angel investors, including Paresh Ghelani among others. 

In August, baby food brand Bebe Burp secured INR 8 Cr in a Pre-Series A funding round from Gruhas Collective Consumer Fund.

In June, Olympian PV Sindhu invested in Greenday’s ‘Better Nutrition’ brand.

Similarly in February, food brand Yu secured INR 20 Cr (around $2.4 Mn) in a Series A funding round led by angel investor Ashish Kacholia and Asian Paints Promoter Group (Manish Choksi and Varun Vakil).

As per Inc42’s analysis, India’s D2C market is poised to grow to $68 Bn by 2030 at a 25% CAGR.