John Abraham Backs D2C Ice Cream Brand NOTO

D2C low calorie ice cream brand NOTO has raised INR 4 Cr in a Pre-Series A funding round. The round saw participation from a group of investors, including Titan Capital, Rockstud Capital, actor-producer John Abraham, WEH Ventures, and a few more angel investors.

Prior to this round, NOTO also raised an undisclosed round of funding in a Pre-Seed round led by WEH Ventures, with participation from Lead Angels.

Founded by husband-wife duo Varun and Ashni Sheth in 2018, NOTO provides low calorie ice creams. The company claims that in addition to this, the ice creams are also high-protein based. The company also claims to house a real fruit popsicles brand with zero added sugar.

According to a statement from the company, each 125 ml tub has 75-95 calories, 3 grams of fat, 75% less sugar, and higher protein than traditional ice creams. On the other hand, the popsicle flavours are made with 40% real fruit (unsweetened), apple concentrate, vitamin C, and prebiotic fiber.

The healthy alternative ice cream market is a small one with a few players such as Mumbai-based Get-A-Whey. This concept of low-calorie ice cream is actually derived from the western world. The Los Angeles-based Halo Top is one such ice cream brand that has around 25 flavours, having a minimum of 70 calories each. Other US-based brands such as Wink Frozen Desserts, Skinny Cow, and Yasso also fall in the low-calories ice cream category.

Due to the pandemic, like multiple other brands, NOTO has adopted the D2C model and is now part of this thriving sector. D2C startups have lately received larger investor attention. According to Inc42 Plus’ latest funding data, in the quarter of the year ended March 2021 (Q1 2021), D2C startups raised $142 Mn, which was 27% of the total funding for ecommerce startups. More importantly, between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021, the funding amount for D2C startups has registered a 93% average quarterly growth.