SMEpost

Dairy beverage maker DropKaffe raises a bridge round of Rs 3.33 crore

Ready-to-drink dairy beverage maker DropKaffe has raised a bridge round of $500,000 (Rs 3.33 crore) led by Kanwaljit Singh of Fireside Ventures.

Other investors in the round include GrowthStory, and High Networth Individuals including Apurva Salarpuria of Salarpuria Group, CEO of Naukri Hitesh Oberoi, and Nirupa Shankar of Brigade Group.

The one-year-old firm manufactures its line of cold coffees and bottled dairy beverages including milkshakes and markets them across 100-plus modern-trade stores in Bengaluru including More, Foodhall, Godrej Nature’s Basket and others.

Backed by Valley-based P39 Capital and other angels in its previous funding round in 2015, DropKaffe has partnered with National Dairy Research Institute for its new line of fruit-based smoothies which have a shelf-life of 30 days and does not contain preservatives.

“We have our own brewing techniques and make sure that bean-to-bottle takes a week and all our product lines are preservative free,” said Chaitanya Chitta, Co-Founder at DropKaffe.

The DropKaffe has established a unit with potential to produce 20,000 units per day at the cost of Rs 25 lakh. The focus has shifted from fizzy drinks in the India markets to innovative products.

Last year, Paper Boat manufacturer Hector Beverages was valued at $100 million by Advent Management and Hillhouse Capital. Sequoia invested $4.5 million in bottled juice company RAW Pressery in February this year. 

Source: The Economic Times