Ginglani Distillers raises ₹6.6 cr in pre-series A round

NEW DELHI: Ginglani Distillers, a whisky startup in India, has raised ₹6.6 crore ($0.9 million) in a pre-series A round led by Supermorpheus, Eagle10 Ventures (via LV Angel Fund) and Grand Anicut Angel Fund. 

The round also saw participation from a diverse set of investors including startup founders Nitin Kaushal and Chakradhar Gade (Country Delight), Rohan Mirchandani and Epigamia Founding Team, Prashant Pansare (Business Head India & MEA, Airmeet), Mohit Srivastava (Ex-MD Airbnb India) & Sameer Guglani (co-founder, Supermorpheus), among others.

With the fund infusion, Ginglani Distillers, the maker of Black Bow whisky, has launched its brands in the Delhi market, plans to strengthen their core team and ramp up their marketing initiatives both in-retail and on social media.

Shivam Ginglani, the founder of the firm said, “When one thinks of whisky, the usual names that come to mind are Scotch, Bourbon or even Japanese. Considering Indians are actually the largest consumers of whisky in the world, it is surprising that there is no noteworthy Indian whisky category in India or globally. The only existing Indian category is IMFL (Indian Made Foreign Liquor) which is confusing and inaccurate to say the least. It is this gap and under-representation of Indian whiskies that led to the birth of our brand Black Bow.”

The Delhi-based firm said the drink is crafted in Solan, Himachal Pradesh and is made with local water and five-year-old malts. The company also produces ‘Woodsmen’ whisky. They aim to close FY 2022 with a $3 million ARR and plan to enter Chandigarh and Mumbai markets soon.

According to ICRIER, India's whisky industry was $52.5 billion July 2021, and is dominated by age-old players launched in the early 1990s.

India is one of the fastest-growing alcoholic beverages markets globally, with an estimated market size of $52.5 billion in 2020 and the market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.8% between 2020 and 2023. According to the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, the production of alcoholic beverages in the country increased by about 23.8% during the period between 2015-16 and 2018-19.

The alcoholic beverages industry contributes to around 1.5 million jobs in India and generated around $48.8 billion in sales revenue in 2019, added an ICRIER report titled Developing Principles for Regulation and Pricing of Alcohol Beverages Sector in India, from July 2021.