Funding round led by Verlinvest and DSG Consumer Partners with participation from InnoVen Capital
July 7, 2017 (Mumbai) – Drums Food International, the parent company of Epigamia Greek yogurt, announced a Rs 90 Crore Series B financing. The round was led by Verlinvest, a Belgium-based consumer focused private equity group created by the founding families of Anheuser-Busch InBev, and DSG Consumer Partners (DSGCP), an early stage venture capital firm run by consumer industry veteran Deepak Shahdadpuri, and also included venture debt participation from InnoVen Capital, India’s largest venture debt provider backed by Temasek Holdings. The company plans to innovate & launch new flavours, initiate brand-building activities and increase production capacity through the new capital.
Rohan Mirchandani, Co-Founder & CEO, Drums Food International said, “It has been such a pleasure to work with Verlinvest and DSGCP, they have been true value-added partners and helped us grow the business with full support and assistance. We have been able to see firsthand why their global track record is so successful! Partnering again in this round was a no brainer and with their support we plan to continue expanding our product lines, categories, and geographies. With the recent additions to our leadership, including Siddarth Menon, Francis Vidhayathil and Dharmesh Joshi, the missing pieces to our dream team are now in place and the sky is the limit for this amazing team I am proud to be a part of.”
Epigamia is India’s first branded and leading premium Greek yogurt which has rapidly gained traction with the Indian consumer. Made with all-natural ingredients and no preservatives, Epigamia is popular across a wide consumer demographic, positioning it as the snack of choice for India’s health-conscious millennials.
Since raising its Series A round last year from Verlinvest & DSGCP, the company has expanded distribution by over five times and launched the Epigamia Snack Pack, the first of its kind in Asia combining dry snacks to be mixed with Greek yogurt through innovative packaging.
Nicholas Cator, Executive Director, Verlinvest said, “We are very happy with our fantastic partnership with Epigamia and Rohan. We believe there is great growth potential to offer premium dairy products to Indian consumers and Epigamia addresses this with a compelling proposition. Verlinvest prides itself on being a daring investor in the consumer world and enabling entrepreneurs through inspiring journeys. Epigamia fits well within this vision.”
Talking about the developments in the FMCG market and growing relevance of Greek yogurt, Deepak Shahdadpuri, Managing Director, DSG Consumer Partners said, “DSGCP is pleased to continue our relationship with Rohan and the amazing team at Epigamia with this new round of investment. Along with our partners Verlinvest, we have seen the team launch India’s first Greek yogurt and more recently, the first yogurt snack pack a few months ago. Core to Epigamia’s success is its unrelenting focus on innovation and always delighting the customer. With this new round of funding, we will see exciting new products coming to the market focused on healthy and functional benefits. Indian consumers are increasingly looking for exciting new products that taste delicious.”
The Company also announced that Arjun Anand, from Verlinvest’s Singapore office, and Prashant Chhaya, former Executive Director at Cadbury (Mondelez International), will join the Company’s Board of Directors.
“We are happy to continue to back a talented team that has set out to build the leading premium dairy brand in India. Greek yogurt has great health and wellness benefits and we believe that Greek yogurt and premium dairy in general will become large categories in India. This increased investment in Epigamia alongside DSGCP fits well within our partnership to be a long-term supporter of young brands and talented entrepreneurs in growing categories in India. Rohan has put together a great Board of Directors with talent across strategic areas and I look forward to joining them soon,” said Arjun Anand.
“The value added dairy market in India is predicted to grow at double digit rate over the next few years. With rising popularity of probiotic products, superior offering, higher level of brand recall & awareness & increased market penetration, Epigamia is well placed to lead the Greek yogurt market in India,” said Prashant Chhaya
Launched in June 2015, Epigamia is currently available in 8 unique flavours across 4000+ retail stores such as Reliance Fresh, Godrej Nature’s Basket, Future Group Foodhall & Big Bazaar, Hypercity, e-commerce platforms such as Big Basket, and numerous general trade retailers spread across Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, and Hyderabad.
The company is positioned to become a formidable FMCG player in the fast emerging “GLocal” space –global quality and locally made in India.
About Drums Food International:
Drums Food is an upcoming new age FMCG company which launched Epigamia Greek yogurt in June 2015. The brand, made using an ancient Greek process of straining yogurt, has grown rapidly. The company is dedicated to delivering quality product experiences with superior taste coupled with state-of-the-art manufacturing and packaging innovation.
About Verlinvest:
Founded in 1995, Verlinvest is a private Belgian family investment company with offices in Brussels, New York and Singapore. It currently manages over US$2 billion. Verlinvest specializes in growth capital with the objective to diversify its investors’ holdings for the long term by making private investments in branded consumer companies in the F&B, retail & hospitality, consumer digital and education segments.
Some of its portfolio companies include Vitacoco, Sula wines, Future group, Drums Foods, Veeba Foods, XSEED, BYJU and Global Fashion Group. Verlinvest is an anchor investor in DSGCP II, DSGCP’s second fund. Verlinvest shares a common passion with DSGCP for investing in and developing consumer brands in the Indian sub-continent.
About DSG Consumer Partners:
DSG Consumer Partners (DSGCP) is a venture capital fund focused on identifying, selecting and investing exclusively in early stage consumer businesses in India and South East Asia. The team has a track record of investing for the long term. Current and past investments include Sula Wines, Raw Pressery, Eazydiner, Cleartrip, Redmart, Bakers Circle, Veeba Food, Social, Mswipe, OYO Rooms (part exit to Softbank), Zipdial (sold to Twitter), GOQii, Furtados School of Music, Saraf Foods, Chope, Burger King India, Chai Point, Suzette, India Lends, Smilemakers, Simplee Aloe and Hostmaker. DSGCP has US$100m under management and is now investing from DSGCP II.