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Licious, a startup that sells Fresh meat and seafood, has raised $286 million to date.- Startup Story #54

By Avinash Raj 27th July 2021

An Indian startup, Licious, is changing the way people shop for meat and seafood. By owning the entire back-end supply chain and cold chain, they make sure that you get the freshest and highest quality products possible. Recently, Licious raised $192 million from a venture capital firm in Singapore.

  • Startup Vertical: Direct to consumer
  • Business Model: Farm-to-fork model
  • Founders: Abhay Hanjura; Vivek Gupta
  • Founded: September 2015
  • Products: Chicken, Mutton, Seafood (Fish, Prawns, Crabs), Marinades & Cold Cuts.
  • Industry: Meat packing
  • Parent: Delightful Gourmet Pvt. Ltd
  • Number of employees: 3500+
  • Headquarters: Bangalore
licious-founders-abhay-hanjura-and-vivek-gupta-image

Funding:


Bangalore -based startup Licious has raised $286 million since its inception. At this value, the company is now worth $650 million. To find out more, we interviewed founders Abhay Hanjura and Vivek Gupta. Here’s what they had to say about innovation and the idea behind Licious.

LICIOUS FUNDING

Q: How did you get the power to boost your idea?


The power to boost our idea came from a lunch with my partner Vivek. We were talking about our idea, and we started eating some chicken that was of really bad quality! My partner remarked that if we were to build Licious we would have to put life into this dead chicken. That was the moment when we realized what we wanted to achieve through Licious- to deliver a better meaty experience.

Q: Please tell us a bit about your journey so far?

To date, Licious has employed 3,500 people in 14 Indian locations. This number has grown exponentially over the years as more and more people become familiar with and love our brand. We’re only beginning our journey to become a world-class and iconic tech-driven D2C brand. “A USD 40 billion industry is waiting to be unlocked,” said Overall.


Q: Tell us about a memorable occurrence involving you or your company?


There is a boy who is one of our first hires. He was doing a job as a Kasai or butcher (A person who prepares meat in India, which is not a reputed work in India) One day he came to me and he said “I am so happy that my mom found a good girl for my marriage. Earlier the society was not even considering me as a human but, you have changed my mind. You bring positive energy and now my whole family is proud of me” and this is a very powerful story they are coming to the office every day. We are providing them crisp clean dresses, 3 meals per day, insurance, and most importantly we love and respect them. and that is the excitement of building Licious.

Q.Can you give us a rundown of how it works?


Licious is the first Direct to Consumer platform in India that sells meat and seafood. We operate in over a dozen Indian cities and have built a supply chain network for various types of meat and seafood. Licious also provides a simple ordering experience with our app and website.


Q: Are you planning to outsource any of your core business?

We have built on all capabilities, including an in-house customer service team,” says Hanjura. “All our delivery executives are on our payroll too. These measures ensure that they can deliver on the promises we make,” he says, adding, “Innovation is not a one-time thing. Constant and persistent innovation not only helps Licious stay ahead of the curve but elevates the entire meat ecosystem of the country

Q) Any advice for startups trying to make it big as a D2C model?


The opportunities in India are massive. It has the 2nd largest processed meat and poultry market in the world and is growing at 18% year on year. There are many business opportunities, especially for the Direct to Consumer (D2C) model. Only four forces are required to make a great offer for consumers –

  • Quality driven
  • Differentiated from competitors;
  • Customer-oriented; and
  • Personalized.

Check out the complete Business Model of Licious for more information, or
Want to create a D2C site like Licious? Contact us now for more information

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