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Business News/ Companies / Start-ups/  Deepika Padukone invests in maker of Epigamia yogurt
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Deepika Padukone invests in maker of Epigamia yogurt

Epigamia, which makes flavoured yogurts, Greek yogurts will use the capital to scale up its presence
  • The investment has been made through KA Enterprises Llp, Padukone’s strategic initiative arm.
  • The investment has been made through KA Enterprises Llp, Deepika Padukone’s strategic initiative arm.Premium
    The investment has been made through KA Enterprises Llp, Deepika Padukone’s strategic initiative arm.

    Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone has invested in Drum Foods International Pvt. Ltd, the maker of flavoured yogurt brand Epigamia, as part of a strategic partnership that will also see her endorse the brand.

    The investment has been made through KA Enterprises Llp, Padukone’s strategic initiative arm.

    The investment is part of the Series C round raised by the company earlier this year, which also saw Danone Manifesto Ventures and Verlinvest, a Belgium-based consumer-focused investment firm, back the Mumbai-based packaged foods startup.

    Epigamia, which makes flavoured yogurt, Greek yogurt, smoothies, and mishti doi, will use the money to scale up its presence across cities.

    “Her (Padukone’s) involvement will accelerate the pace of reach for our products," said Rohan Mirchandani, co-founder, Drum Foods. As part of the deal, Padukone will own equity in Drum Foods. The company, however, declined to share the details of her investment.

    Padukone, who has featured in films such as Bajirao Mastani and, more recently, Padmavat, is India’s second most valued celebrity brand after ace cricketer Virat Kohli.

    As of 2018, Padukone who endorses over 20 brands had a brand value of $102.5 million, according to a celebrity brand valuation report by Duff and Phelps.

    Epigamia is also looking to expand its products portfolio. “We have so far not done too much mass media advertisements. But on the basis of our association with Padukone, we are now looking forward to elevating the brand to the next dimension," Mirchandani said, adding that Padukone may feature in its advertisements by the end of the calendar year.

    Over the next two years, the company plans to ramp up distribution to 50,000 outlets across more than 25 cities. Padukone’s involvement will accelerate that pace, Mirchandani said.

    Drum Foods was founded in 2008 by former Wharton alumni Rohan Mirchandani, chef Ganesh Krishnamurthy, Rahul Jain, and Uday Thakkar. Its products are sold through more than 10,000 retail stores, including BigBasket and Amazon, besides retailers spread across Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Chennai. Padukone had set up KA Enterprises in 2017, to leverage her brand and back businesses ranging from apparel, to now food. So far, the firm has invested in four ventures.

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    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Suneera Tandon
    Suneera Tandon is a New Delhi based reporter covering consumer goods for Mint. Suneera reports on fast moving consumer goods makers, retailers as well as other consumer-facing businesses such as restaurants and malls. She is deeply interested in what consumers across urban and rural India buy, wear and eat. Suneera holds a masters degree in English Literature from the University of Delhi.
    Catch all the Corporate news and Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.
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    Published: 14 May 2019, 12:02 AM IST
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