Pluckk Acquires Upnourish For $1.4 Mn To Bolster Nutrition Play

With an eye on diversifying its product mix, fresh fruits and vegetables platform Pluckk has acquired D2C nutrition brand Upnourish for $1.4 Mn. 

In a statement, Pluckk said that the acquisition will enable it to expand its offerings and focus on the “growth of a new vertical focused on nutrition”.

Founded in 2021 by the husband-wife duo of Aayushi Lakhpati and Kuonal Lakhapati, Upnourish sells on-the-go-meals such as smoothies, soups and bars, as well as personalised nutrition plans. 

Commenting on the acquisition, Pluckk founder and CEO Pratik Gupta said, “… We are thrilled to welcome Upnourish into the Pluckk family as this move directly benefits Pluckk customers. Their products have truly transformed the lives of their customers by making it easy to solve on-the-go nutrition needs through their meal replacement smoothies, soups and bars.” 

Founded in 2021 by Gupta, Pluckk sells fruits, vegetables, meal kits, juices, dips, soups, smoothies, and salads through ‘farm-to-table’ concept. It has operations in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Pune. It sells the products via its own app and website, as well as platforms like Amazon, Swiggy Instamart, Zepto, Blinkit, and Flipkart Minutes. 

Pluckk claims to deliver more than 20 Lakh products every month to 5 Lakh households. 

Upnourish cofounder and business head Kuonal Lakhapati said on the acquisition, “… We are thrilled to join hands with Pluckk in this exciting new chapter. Pluckk’s commitment to delivering clean, fresh, high-quality produce, combined with Upnourish’s innovative and convenient nutritional products, positions us to make people leaner, fitter, and bolder.”

Last year, Pluckk raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Bollywood actor Kareena Kapoor Khan. It is also backed by Exponentia Ventures.

The acquisition comes at a time when the Indian health-focussed D2C space has been witnessing the rise of new players as consumers have become more health conscious in the aftermath of the pandemic. 

The increasing smartphone penetration and affordable internet has further given a major boost to India’s D2C economy. As per an Inc42 report, the homegrown D2C market is likely to reach a size of $100 Bn by 2025.  

Within this, the food and beverage (F&B) industry is projected to grow to a size of $68 Bn by 2030, as per another Inc42 report. 

Just last week, D2C bread brand The Health Factory secured $3.5 Mn (INR 29.2 Cr) in a seed funding round led by Peak XV Partner’s accelerator programme Surge. Prior to that, D2C health food brand Alpino also bagged $1.2 Mn funding from actor Shilpa Shetty and other angel investors.