Ghodawat Consumer Acquires Non-Alcoholic Beverage Startup Coolberg

Sanjay Ghodawat Group’s FMCG arm Ghodawat Consumer Ltd (GCL) has acquired Mumbai-based beverage startup Coolberg for an undisclosed amount.

Coolberg’s team will join GCL and help develop a portfolio of new-age premium beverage brands as part of the deal. 

The development has come almost three years after Coolberg secured $3.5 Mn in a Series A funding round led by Singapore-based RB Investments and India Quotient.

Other investors including Suashish Diamonds’ Ashish Goenka and a cohort of investors from Indian Angel Network also participated in that round. 

Set up in 2016 by Pankaj Aswani and Yashika Keswani, Coolberg offers non-alcoholic beverages in seven flavours – cranberry, peach, ginger, malt, strawberry, mint, and cranberry. 

The startup claims to have a presence in more than 200 cities and across 10 countries including India, Africa, Maldives, Bhutan and Nepal, among others.

“Coolberg is a lifestyle brand that has built a strong loyalty amongst its customer base. With this partnership, we are now aiming to accelerate the growth of the brand exponentially in both domestic and international markets,” said Yashika Keswani, cofounder of Coolberg.

It operates an omnichannel model and sells products through online marketplaces, quick commerce and offline places such as supermarkets, restaurants, colleges, airports, etc. It claims to be selling products in more than 50K outlets and expanding reach to more than 1 Lakh outlets in the coming years. 

Founded in 2013, GCL initially manufactured edible oils and later widened its product portfolio by venturing into varied sub-segments – staples, home and personal care. 

“Our goal is for the consumer to utilize at least one product from GCL throughout the day.  We are excited about this partnership as Coolberg has created a niche name for itself in the non-alcoholic beverage industry. We look forward to working with the highly experienced team of Coolberg as we further expand the business going forward,” said Shrenik Ghodawat, managing director of GCL.

GCL claims to have clocked a revenue of INR 1,400 Cr in FY21-22 and further aims to achieve annualised revenue of INR 2000 Cr by FY23.

According to a Statista report, India’s non-alcoholic drink segment is pegged at $15.76 Bn in 2022. The industry is expected to grow to $19.28 Bn space by 2027, expanding at a CAGR of 4.11% during the 2022-27 period.

Some of the non-alcoholic Indian beverages startups include Jimmy’s Cocktails, Sober, and Gunsberg