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New-age organic food startup Gourmet Garden announced on Thursday that it has raised $3 Mn from new and existing investors. Beyond Next Ventures and M Venture Partners have led the round while existing investors Incubate India & Whiteboard Capital among others also participated in the round. It must be noted that Gourmet Garden had raised undisclosed amount of funding in October 2020 as part of the pre-series A round.
The company hasn’t shed light on whether the latest fund infusion is part of the Pre-series A or Series A round. The startup has also kept silent on the valuation it has commanded in the latest funding round.
Established in early 2019, Gourmet Garden is known for offering the widest range of zero-contamination vegetables and fruits and other curated essential offerings. The barely two-year-old company claims that its vegetables and fruits are byproducts of naturoponic farming operations, which makes its offering stand out in terms of freshness and quality.
Currently, the company offers its products in Bengaluru and Chennai. The startup further claims that it boosts 60,000 customers in Chennai & Bengaluru and nearly 75% of their customers are repeat customers. However, Techpluto was unable to ascertain and authenticate these claims.
Gourmet Garden’s co-founders Arjun Balaji and Vishal Narayanaswamy boost good professional credentials. Arjun Balaji was an erstwhile Partner at McKinsey while Vishal Narayanaswamy launched among the first hydroponic farms in India.
Arjun Balaji, Co-founder and Director, Gourmet Garden said, “We are fulfilling the consumer need-gap for a brand offering wholesome, distinctly fresh and safe food essentials for every-day consumption. Most other offerings are aggregating commodity supply, however our focus has been to operate end-to-end and focus disproportionately on source quality and safety, which is at the core of overall customer experience and differentiation.”
Tsuyoshi Ito, CEO, and Akito Arima, Agri/FoodTech Lead Capitalist, Beyond Next Ventures said, “We are delighted to see that their sustainable cultivation techniques and quality of succulent vegetables are comparable to those in Japan. The focus on affordable, high quality and safe fruits and vegetables is rising in urban India. Gourmet Garden possesses a full basket of high quality produce, delivered in shortest time keeping their loyal customers happy.”
