Kapiva Ayurveda, an Ayurvedic foods brand, has raised $2.5M in its first round of institutional funding.
The start-up, which makes traditional Indian foods such as Herbal Juices, Ghee and Honey, will use the funds to scale its distribution presence and build brand awareness.
Founded by Baidyanath Group scion Ameve Sharma and ex Bain Capital investor Shrey Badhani, Kapiva Ayurveda has a portfolio of 40+ Ayurvedic food products. The start-up has grown rapidly and is now present in 4000+ outlets in 10 cities across India. Products are also available across all major online channels such as Amazon and Big Basket. The brand is now available in both online and offline channels in the US.
“We have a huge headroom for growth since less than 5% of the food and consumable products in India are natural or herbal. We are making a difference through value-added nutrition, especially through careful sourcing of ingredients. Our goal is to make Kapiva Ayurveda a brand loved by people worldwide for providing the most authentic, high quality traditional Indian and Ayurvedic foods.” said company co-founder Ameve Sharma.
“The ingredients are sourced with careful supervision and stringent quality control to offer 100% goodness of nature. Leveraging more than 100 years old rich heritage and know-how of Baidyanath, Kapiva Ayurveda is spreading the health and wellness message of Ayurveda through food,” he added.
Kapiva Ayurveda has entered offline channels in top cities through both traditional retail and modern trade outlets such as Reliance Retail and Nature’s Basket. The brand now aims to go deeper in its focus markets and increase store presence and density in the top cities while also scaling internationally.
VS Kannan Sitaram of Fireside Ventures said " Kapiva is targeting the fast growing everyday wellness foods space with high quality products developed using appropriate technology. We believe each of Kapiva’s products brings something unique to the consumer and we are very excited to work with Ameve and the Kapiva team to grow this brand. Kapiva is an excellent example of early stage consumer investing that we at Fireside focus on”
Launched in 2017, Fireside Ventures is an early stage venture fund with a focus on consumer brands. It invests in early stage businesses and provides a range of operating support across key functions.
“We are very excited to have got Fireside Ventures on our side as the have enviable track record of working with some of India’s most iconic young brands. The best part of the collaboration is that they have brought to the table insightful FMCG experience along with the capital they have infused,” said Ameve.
In 2017, Kapiva Ayurveda raised approximately Rs.4.4 crore from a group of angel investors.