Specialty food ingredients manufacturers Veeba Food Services Pvt Ltd has raised $6 million (Rs 38 crore) from Saama Capital and existing investor DSG Consumer Partners, the company said.
Spun out as a separate business in 2013 from the founder Viraj Bahl’s family enterprise Fun Foods which was sold to German group Oetker, Veeba manufacturers sauces and dressings and has a customer base including global brands in quick service restaurants and coffee bar chains such as KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Taco Bell and Starbucks.
“With fresh capital infusion, we are excited to now enter the retail market in the near future with a range of unique products that will leverage our expertise in the sauces and dressings segment,†said founder and CEO Bahl.
“The specialty food ingredients sector in the country is under-developed and poised for significant growth in the near term,†Ash Lilani, managing partner, Saama Capital, said.
Saama Capital, which began in 2006 as part of SVB Financial Group, was spun out as an independent firm in 2012 and has backed diverse set of companies including Sula Wines, Shaadi, Snapdeal, iYogi, Prizm Payments, One97 Communications, Bluestone, Naaptol, Genesis Colors, Applabs, Shriram EPC, SKS Microfinance, Vistaar Finance, Shubham Housing Finance, Chai Point, Hotelogix and Games2Win.
“The food services industry is at a point of inflection and Veeba is well positioned to be a leading player,†said Deepak Shahdadpuri, managing director, DSG Consumer Partners, who serves on the board of Veeba Foods.
DSG Consumer Partners has been an early backer of the company.
Prior to this investment, Veeba had received $5 million investment. VCCircle has earlier reported that it raised $1.3 million in a Series B round of funding led by its existing investor DSG Consumer Partners in 2014. DSGCP had earlier invested through a Series A round in 2012.
In an interaction with VCCircle in February, Bahl had said the company plans to use funds to set up India’s largest emulsion plant. The company has a 35,000 sq ft manufacturing plant in Neemrana, Rajasthan. He had said that the firm is growing at 25-30 per cent on a month-on-month basis and is aiming to clock a turnover of Rs 100 crore this financial year. The firm may also look at entering the preserves food segment through the inorganic route.
