Chai Point, the largest organized chai company in India, has announced a US $20 million Series C funding round, led by Paragon Partners. All existing investors – Eight Roads (Fidelity’s India PE arm), Saama Capital and DSG – participated in this round, with some of them investing super pro rata.
Chai Point is India’s largest organised brand in the Rs 1.5 lakh crore chai market targeting 1 billion Indians. With the average per capita consumption of the beverage increasing at a steady rate of 20-30 percent, the market is ever expanding. Chai Point has solidified its leadership position in the organized Chai segment and created a unique brand in a market which is now witnessing an aggressive formalization drive. The company delights its customers with 0.3 million cups of chai a day across all its channels – stores, delivery, and dispensers – and is poised to do 5X more in the next 3 years.
Commenting on the investment, Amuleek Singh Bijral, Co-founder and CEO, Chai Point said “This funding round is primarily aimed at further strengthening the brand’s multi-channel go-to-market. A substantial portion of our investment proceeds will go towards deepening our sales, marketing, and service operations for our automated hot beverage dispending business – boxC.in – which is the next growth driver for the business. High quality tea and coffee is fundamental to our growth and we are going to expand and refine our underlying sourcing program – ‘Garden to Glass’. Also, we look forward to delighting our customers with an especially enhanced food menu. “
Professor Tarun Khanna, Harvard Business School, Co-Founder Chai Point said, “Chai is integral to the rhythm of life in India. At Chai Point, we are using technology to enhance the customer experience, and are recommitting to strengthen our efforts towards environmental sustainability.
Siddharth Parekh, Co-Founder and Senior Partner, Paragon Partners, said “Amuleek and his team have built a strong brand with Chai Point, which has a great potential to be among the top home-grown brands in the country. We look forward to working with the Chai Point team and helping them scale up their operations. We are bullish on the consumption story in India and are excited to partner with the company. This investment is in line with our overarching investment theme of partnering high-calibre entrepreneurs with compelling business models.”
Parekh will also be joining the Board of the Company. DCS Advisory India (earlier Signal Hill Capital) was the exclusive advisor to the company for this fund raise.
