Mumbai: Epigamia’s long-time investor Verlinvest, alongside the family of late founder Rohan Mirchandani and Manu Chandra-led Sauce have bought out some of the dairy and snacking startup’s early bacskers in a secondary deal worth a little over $20 million, top executives said.
The companies did not disclose the exact shareholding or valuation details of the transaction.
The deal marks consumer-focused firm Verlinvest doubling down on its decade-old investment in Epigamia and Sauce’s entry into Epigamia’s cap table as the company looks to scale a profitable business amid growing demand for healthier, protein-rich foods. In a secondary transaction, shareholders sell their stakes to other existing or new investors, and no new capital is injected into the company.
“Our decision to increase our stake, having first invested over a decade ago, reflects our conviction in the potential of the brand, the strength of its leadership, and the significant opportunity we see in India’s evolving food and beverage landscape,” Arjun Anand, Verlinvest’s managing director & head of Asia, told Mint.
With consumers moving toward healthy, calorie-conscious and high-protein foods, he said the company is well-positioned to address that demand through its innovative product ranges.
The latest consolidation of the cap table has enabled profitable exits for investors such as DSG Consumer Partners, Deepika Padukone-led Ka Enterprises, and other angel investors, Anand said.
Meanwhile, Sauce's entry into Epigamia’s shareholding traces way back to 2014, when the company was called Hokey Pokey. The venture capital firm’s founder Chandra had invested in a personal capacity as an angel investor into the dairy company, which was subsequently called Epigamia.
Two years later, the startup attracted capital from global investment firm Verlinvest, which ramped up its stake over multiple funding rounds, making it the largest shareholder in the business currently. Verlinvest has also backed other Indian consumer brands, including Blue Tokai, Lahori Zeera, Veeba, Purplle, and Wakefit.
Inspired by Epigamia’s promising story, Chandra founded Sauce in 2019 with the vision of backing early-stage consumer brands in India. “Most of my learnings of venture and consumer investing have come through my journey at Epigamia. Rohan (the founder) and his family was the first and the largest backer of our maiden fund,” Chandra told Mint.
Today, the investment firm handles about ₹1,600 crore in assets under management (AUM) across six funds that include an early-stage strategy and an opportunities fund, which backs high-growth companies from its portfolio. Its notable investments include Hocco ice creams, The Whole Truth Foods, Innovist and Mokobara.
“We made an exception with the investment in Epigamia, as it is the first growth cheque outside of the Sauce portfolio. The business is the strongest it has ever been since inception,” he said. It is currently deploying from its second opportunities fund closed last year with a corpus of about ₹750 crore.
Chandra alluded to the strong tailwinds at play for Epigamia. “Beyond a shift in consumer mindset towards healthier options, even aspects like supply chain and distribution have become more simplified with platforms like quick commerce. Today, it has become easier to take our products to consumers beyond the metros with the last-mile infrastructure offered by the players in the segment.”
“We are pleased to increase the Mirchandani family’s ownership stake in the company, and help build the vision Rohan had for it,” added Swaraj Mirchandani, representing the Mirchandani family. Rohan Mirchandani passed away in December 2024 due to a cardiac arrest.
Wider reach
Epigamia services over 150 cities in India and operates through multiple distribution platforms such as quick commerce, which contributes 50-60% of revenues every month and offline channels, with about 40%, which span general and modern trade.
“The endeavour is to double our business every 24-30 months, backed by strong innovations and back-end operations. Over the last quarter, our biggest focus area has been in strengthening the backend, especially expanding our manufacturing,” said Epigamia chief executive officer Ritesh Gauba, who took over when chief operating officer Ankur Goel was elevated to cofounder in May.
“The company aims to exit the current financial year at an ARR (annual recurring revenue) of ₹700 crore+ and the following financial year (FY28) at ₹1,000 crore+ ARR,” he said.
Without disclosing exact financial details, the company said it is a profitable, cash-rich business at this point, and does not have any immediate funding requirement.
Founded in 2007 by Mirchandani, Uday Thakkar, Rahul Jain and Ganesh Krishnamoorthy, Drums Food International, which operates Epigamia, has raised upwards of $80 million ( ₹760 crore) from backers including Verlinvest, DSG Consumer and Danone Manifesto Ventures, according to market intelligence firm Tracxn. It was valued at ₹1,250 crore when it last raised funds in December 2023.
Greek yogurt, the company’s core product, continues to drive more than half of Epigamia’s revenue. It has also forayed into protein milkshakes, smoothies, and lactose-free products. In recent months, the company launched innovations such asa high protein paneer, milk, and a few other products specifically for kids—rich in vitamin D and fibers.