Exclusive: Country Delight raises $65 Mn in Series D round

Dairy brand Country Delight has raised Rs 498 crore or around $65 million in its Series D round from new and existing investors including Venturi Partners, IIFL, Trifecta Capital and Elevation Capital. The company had raised $25 million in its Series C round in November 2020.

Country Delight has approved the allotment of 326376 series D preference shares at an issue price of Rs 15,250 per share to raise Rs 498 crore, regulatory filings show. Lead investor Venturi Partners has put in Rs 188.6 crore followed by IIFL, Trifecta, Elevation, Orios Fund and Matrix Partners with Rs 109.73 crore, Rs 85.73 crore. Rs 68.58 crore, Rs 44.58 crore and Rs 0.5 crore investment respectively.

According to Fintrackr’s estimates, the company has raised the new round at a post-money valuation of Rs 4410 crore or $580 million. This is more than a three-fold jump in its valuation from $170 million during the Series C round. The company was reportedly in talks to raise a larger round at around $500 million valuation.

Following the fresh allotment of shares, promoters –Chakradhar Gade and Nitin Kaushal– collective holding has been diluted to 20.93%.

Founded in 2011, Country Delight delivers food essentials like milk, bread, ghee, and paneer to customer doorsteps.  The company sources its products directly from dairy farms and caters to customers in 10-12 cities in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Jaipur, Chennai and Pune. The company has also expanded its product portfolio with fruits & vegetables and has plans to add more in the future.

In the D2C dairy and daily essentials delivery space, Country Delight has few competitors.

Country Delight has also seen a surge in its operating revenue for the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2021. According to its regulatory filings, the company’s operating revenue jumped 83.4% to Rs 321 crore in FY21 from Rs 175 crore in FY20. During the period, its total expenditure increased by nearly 44% to Rs 354 crore. However, it managed to control its losses from Rs 68.5 crore in FY20 to Rs 28.3 crore in FY21.