Exclusive: Former Milkbasket Cofounder Yatish Talvadia Launches D2C Grocery Brand Anmasa

Former Milkbasket cofounder and CEO Yatish Talvadia has launched a new venture, D2C grocery brand Anmasa.

Talvadia has cofounded the startup with Shailendra Upadhyay, the former founder of grocery delivery platform Veggie India that was acquired by Milkbasket in 2019.

It is pertinent to note that Milkbasket is also an ecommerce platform that sells dairy products, groceries, fruits, vegetables, and bakery. In 2021, Reliance Industries’ subsidiary Reliance Retail Ventures acquired a majority stake in the startup. After serving as the acquired company’s CEO (after erstwhile CEO Anant Goel resigned in 2020), Talvadia stepped down from his position at Milkbasket in 2023.

Anmasa was incorporated in the same year, but it became fully operational towards the end of 2024. The D2C startup sells products such as whole wheat atta (flour), wood-pressed oil, spices, and dry fruits. 

Currently, it has more than 80 stock keeping units (SKUs) and differentiates itself from its competitors by providing fresh cold-pressed atta where its customers can choose the quantity of different grains they want to use in making customised whole wheat atta. These grains may include millet, grams, and more.

Anmasa’s cofounder and CEO Talvadia told Inc42 that the inspiration for launching the venture came from his own struggles while dealing with an autoimmune disease. While doctors suggested he switch to gluten-free food, he found it difficult to rely on a single brand that would cater to this need. This made him depend on local atta chakki (mills) for freshly ground flours, and he realised that this was a major market that could be partially captured. 

Catering To Premium Market With Omnichannel Presence

As per the cofounder, 88% of the wheat flour market in India is unorganised and the local mills are unhygienic in most cases.

Anmasa aims to cater to customers who do not prefer packaged wheat flour of popular brands such as Aashirvaad, Pillsbury, or Fortune, and want premium and hygienic products, Talvadia said.

This is also the reason the startup has chosen to take the omnichannel route. Currently, Anmasa operates an experiential store in Gurugram where customers can visit, inspect how the processing is done, choose their customisation option, and place an order online or offline. Its online service is currently available in Gurugram and promises delivery in 90 minutes. Anmasa also has a microprocessing centre in the city, which is like a dark store.

While Anmasa’s cold-pressed oils, whole spices, and dry fruits are pre-packed after processing, Talvadia said that its wheat is always freshly milled. The startup doesn’t leverage other quick commerce platforms like Zepto or Blinkit at this time to ensure this promise of freshness, he said.

“We do not want to choose a marketplace model of selling our products on other ecommerce platforms for two reasons. First, we will end up being far from consumers, losing personal touch and customer base. Second, a marketplace model also doesn’t go well with the ethos of our brand, which is selling fresh flour. If we keep the inventories of our products at other quick commerce dark stores, we are competing with more established and new-age brands, and it becomes a commodity play,” Talvadia said.

Anmasa is also raising $1 Mn (about INR 9 Cr) in its pre-seed funding round from a few investors to penetrate deeper into the Delhi NCR region. It plans to open at least 10-12 physical retail outlets or “experiential centres” in the region in 2025.

However, Talvadia didn’t disclose the names of the investors.

The startup plans to foray into more Tier I cities by mid-2026. However, it is yet to zero down on the regions for this.

At its present capacity, Anmasa claims to serve more than 2,000 customers via online and offline channels. Between October 2024 and February this year, the startup claims to have witnessed 15% revenue growth month-on-month.

Anmasa competes with D2C brands such as Zoff (in the spices market), Anveshan (in wood-pressed oil and dry fruits markets), Jiwa and Two Brothers Organic Farms (in gluten-free flour products), among others.

India’s ecommerce market is expected to become a $400 Bn market opportunity by 2030, of which food and FMCG will together account for $68 Bn.