Deepika Padukone Backs Portfolio Company Epigamia With Fresh Funding

Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone has followed up with her investment in Mumbai-based fresh FMCG products startup, Epigamia.

According to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs filings of Drums Food International, accessed by Inc42, the company on January 30, 2020, allotted fresh equity shares worth INR 1.05 Cr to KA Enterprises. KA Enterprises mentions Deepika Padukone and her father Prakash Padukone as the directors.

The 5833 equity shares have been allotted at a nominal value of INR 100 with a premium of INR 1705.5 per share. The company in May 2019 announced a multi-crore strategic partnership with Deepika Padukone with an investment from Deepika Padukone. The company has raised $51 Mn from investors such as Verlinvest, Danone Manifesto Ventures, DSG Consumer Partners (DSGCP) among others.

Epigamia was launched in 2015 by Rohan Mirchandani, Uday Thakker, Chef Ganesh Krishnamoorthy, and Rahul Jain as a Greek Yogurt brand and has expanded its portfolio to include artisanal curd, snack pack, mishti doi (an Indian sweet curd), and smoothies.

The company markets its products through 21 stock-keeping units and 7,000 retail stores including Reliance Fresh, Big Bazaar, Big Basket and Amazon and other general traders across Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, and Kolkata.

Earlier, Rahul Jain, cofounder, Epigamia had said that the company’s ambition is to increase its consumer base and build distribution to 50,000 stores in the next few years. “We believe that our association with Deepika will go a long way in making people aware of our brand and product. We also believe that Deepika is a perfect fit to bring to life the brand ideology,” he had added.

At the time, Deepika Padukone had said, “Not only do I love the products but also connect very strongly with the brand philosophy. The team has big plans for expansion and I am excited to be closely involved as we roll out new products and enter new cities.”

Currently, ecommerce FMCG market stands at around $1.2 Bn, which is 2% of the total FMCG market in India, metro cities account for 6% orders from the online channels of the FMCG total sales. India’s FMCG 2.0 startups already have an uphill climb when it comes to battling the big-name brands in the consumer goods space.

According to DataLabs By Inc42 analysis, between 2014 and H1 2019, more than $433 Mn was added as an investment in Indian FMCG startups — the median ticket size is close to a million dollars at $989K. Considering that’s well over 400 funding rounds were funded in that period, investor confidence seems high and the capital inflow is growing at a rate of 47%.

The top five highest-funded FMCG startups include Bira 91, Drum Foods (Epigamia), Hector Beverages, Chai Point and RAW Pressery and together they accounted for more than 50% of the total funding of $433 Mn. These startups are targeting niche segments such as women’s hygiene, ready-to-consume caffeine-based or fruit-based products.

The Indian FMCG sector is estimated to worth $104 Bn by the year 2020, growing at a compounded annual rate of 28%.