Exclusive: Country Delight To Raise $20 Mn From Temasek, Others

Dairytech startup Country Delight seems to be kicking off the new year with a  bridge round, before striking for a bigger fundraise.

The Delhi-NCR based startup is raising around $20 Mn (INR 164 Cr) from its existing investors – Singapore’s sovereign fund Temasek, Venturi Partners and others.

The board of CountryDelight has passed a resolution to allot around 78K Pre-Series E CCPS (Compulsory Convertible Preference Shares) to Temasek, Venturi Partners and its other existing investors. Inc42 has reviewed the document. 

As per Inc42’s estimate, the startup is raising the fresh round at a valuation of around $758 Mn. In its last $108 Mn Series D funding round, it was valued at $615 Mn.

There is also a possibility that the funding round could increase with more investors coming onboard.

Founded in 2013 by Chakradhar Gade and Nitin Kaushal, Country Delight follows a subscription-based model where it sources milk from farmers and delivers it to customers’ doorsteps. Besides this, it supplies bread, ghee, other dairy products, fruits and vegetables.

To date, the startup has raised close to $158 Mn (excluding the ongoing funding round) across multiple rounds. It counts Temasek, Matrix Partners, Orios Ventures and Elevation Capital as among its marquee investors.

The startup in FY22 saw its net loss surge over 6X to INR 186.4 Cr from INR 28.2 Cr, whereas the revenue from operations increased by over 1.7X to INR 542.6 Cr. 

It is pertinent to mention that the startup generates revenue from sale of milk and other products like curd, paneer (cottage cheese), ghee, eggs, fruits, vegetables, and coconut water.

Last year, Gade while speaking at Inc42’s D2C Summit said that the startup will soon turn profitable. 

“We are currently an almost $200 Mn revenue company, and the business is growing at 5-7% month-on-month. We are on the clear path to profitability in the next 8-10 months,” Gade said while speaking at the fourth edition of Inc42’s D2C summit.

However, the startup is yet to file its FY23 financials.

Country Delight, besides competing against major traditional players such as Mother Dairy, Nandini, and Amul, also competes against new-age players such as Odisha-based Milk Mantra, and Reliance-acquired Milk Basket.