Foodtech startup Licious enters Unicorn club; first D2C brand to achieve feat

Online meat and seafood selling brand Licious has now become India’s first poultry-based startup to enter the much-coveted unicorn club. The farm to folk business model based startup, founded by Abhay Hanjura and Vivek Gupta about six years ago in Bengaluru, has now entered the unicorn club after receiving funding of around Rs. 388 crore ($52 million) in a round led by IIFL Asset Management Ltd.'s private equity fund.

Licious enters Unicorn club with over $1 billion net worth

The latest funding round has catapulted the meat-delivery business startup into the unicorn club, with the startup's evaluation surging above $1 billion (Rs. 7,454) crore. The company has garnered the IIFL Asset management late-stage tech fund just months after it has raised Rs. 1,431 crore ($192 million) in a funding round lead by Temasek and Multiples Private Equity.

India’s first online meat delivery startup is run by Delightful Gourmet Pvt and has been able to process more than 20 lakh orders to date. With the unicorn tag, now the company aspires to use the fund to expand the business by investing in technology and double down the supply chain and improvise the product quality.

The company further wants to invest in product innovation, talent, and vendor partner upgrades as well to expand the sales in different regions. The tech-based startup has garnered a huge customer base in merely 6 years as it provides people with non-veg food items, on a click. With people getting more used to buying groceries and vegetables online, Licious has expanded the horizon of the online food market by inducting the poultry and seafood business in the race.

Licious Meat Business Model

Licious meat delivery is India’s first direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand to enter the unicorn club and cross this milestone valuation. The poultry business traditionally follows a different business model and a longer supply chain to provide the products to the customers, however, Licious has broken the traditional system by directly providing the products to the customers without involving other parties in between. 

Otherwise, in the poultry business, the manufacturer sells the product to wholesalers who then supply it to manufacturers/ producers and who later provide the product to customers. 

The company that specialises in Chicken, egg, lamb, pork, goat and other meats along with seafood works on a farm-to folk business model, which means that the company supply the products manufactured by themselves. The entire supply chain from sourcing to selling is owned by the company. They have maintained a solid network of producing, processing and storage in cold chains to maintain the quality. 

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