Ice Cream Brand NIC Pockets $11 Mn Funding From Jungle Ventures

Pune-based NIC, an ice cream brand owned by Walko Food has raised $11 Mn in a growth funding round led by Singapore-based venture capital (VC) firm Jungle Ventures.

The startup said it plans to deploy the incoming funding to expand its production capabilities, enhance product offerings and broaden its distribution reach. NIC also plans to invest in operational efficiency systems, including enterprise resource planning (ERP) software to strengthen its business operation.

Earlier in 2021, Walko Food secured $4.8 Mn in funding from JM Financials. Including the latest round, the ice cream brand has picked up close to $16 Mn in funding.

Founded in 2015 by Jeetendra Bhandari, Sanjiv Shah and Raj Bhandari, NIC claims to have achieved a cumulative annual growth rate (CAGR) of 90% in the last five years and a presence in more than 100 Indian cities.

Sanjiv Shah, director of Walko Food said, “With this new investment, we will continue to expand our reach, enhance our product portfolio, and earn a position as one of the market leaders in the ice cream industry. The company plans to invest heavily in the systems and other resources required to achieve the growth.”

Arpit Beri, principal of India investments at Jungle Ventures, added, “We see enormous potential in Walko to revolutionize the Indian ice cream and desserts industry. Through disruptive innovation across the entire value chain, from supply chain optimisation to pioneering modes of preparation, Walko is poised to become a major food company.”

The investment in NIC comes as the Indian startup ecosystem has witnessed a recent uptick in funding. Last week, Indian startups picked up $171 Mn across 18 deals, a 138% jump from the week before.

This week alone, the ecosystem has seen two mega deals – Ola Electric’s $300 Mn funding round and Builder.ai’s $250 Mn funding round – along with other important rounds such as Chalo’s $57 Mn round and Infinite Uptime’s $18 Mn round.

Recent funding activity in India’s foodtech segment includes Rebel Foods’ $9.1 Mn debt round, along with D2C foodtech Yu securing investment from Indian cricketer Hardik Pandya in April.

Update | 24th May, 5:13 PM IST

An earlier version of the story had mistakenly mentioned the incorrect full form of NIC at one place; we have updated the article to reflect the change.