Meat startup Licious becomes first Indian D2C unicorn with $52 mn fundraise

Licious, India’s largest technology (tech)-first full-stacked direct-to-consumer (D2C) fresh meat and seafood brand, has raised $52 million in a funding round led by IIFL Asset Management’s (AMC’s) late-stage tech fund. The funding has made it India’s first such D2C unicorn or a start-up with over $1-billion valuation.

Avendus Future Leaders Fund has also invested in this round. Avendus Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Licious for the transaction.

Licious is now the 29th unicorn to emerge out of India in 2021 amid a funding boom. The funding will help it to compete better with players such as FreshToHome, Zappfresh, as well as large players, such as BigBasket and Swiggy.