INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Vahdam Teas, an India-based e-commerce startup that sells fresh tea in international markets, has closed a new financing round as it looks
to expand its presence in the U.S
and Europe.The three-year-old startup said it has raised $11 million in its Series C financing round
The round, which according to a person familiar with the matter valued the startup at about $40 million, was led by Sixth Sense Ventures
Existing investor Fireside Ventures, which has put money in a number of consumer-facing brands, also participated in the round.Mankind Group
Family office, Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan, SAR Group Family office, Zomato co-founder Pankaj Chaddah and Urmin Group family
office also participated in the new financing round
The startup, headquartered in New Delhi and New York, has raised about $16 million to date.The startup was founded by 28-year-old Bala
Sarda, who comes from a tea industry family
Vahdam Teas operates an eponymous e-commerce platform, and also works with giants such as Amazon, to sell tea directly to consumers in the
U.S., Europe and other international markets.Vahdam Teas cuts the middlemen suppliers to reduce the time it takes to ship tea to consumers
“If you look at the supply chain for exporting from India, it’s completely broken
The goods go through distributors, then get sold to exporters
Somewhere in the middle, brokers show up, too
Then an importer imports the tea
It all takes months to get a supply cycle to reach consumers
Unlike wine or whiskey, tea is best when it is fresh
Its ingredients lose flavor with time,” he explained.To address this, Vahdam Teas built a supply chain network to source tea directly from
hundreds of gardens in India
It stores all the goods in its warehouses in New Delhi and then exports directly to its entities in different markets
The faster delivery of tea and better control of the supply chain is one of the key differentiating factors for Vahdam Teas.Today about 99%
of its sales comes from outside of India, said Sarda, who noted that with the new capital the startup would explore expanding its business
in India, too.But much of the fresh capital would be invested in bulking up its supply chain network and setting up additional offices in
and Europe, he said in an interview with TechCrunch earlier this week
The startup also plans to launch new products and enter new markets in South Asia and UAE.Vahdam Teas also wants to have a presence in the
offline (brick and mortar) market, and bring its tea to 500-700 stores in the U.S
“We have aspirations to become an omni-channel brand,” he said.India controls about 25% of tea production worldwide
But Indian brands almost have a “negligible presence” on the world map, said Nikhil Vora, founder and chief executive of Sixth Sense
“Vahdam is an interesting example of how a traditional business like tea can get disrupted
We’re impressed with the way Bala has sought to target the global markets first and create a brand salience and market innovative ethnic
Indian tea flavors,” he added.Tea is one of the biggest industries for laborers in India
Sarda said the startup donates 1% of its revenue to help these workers educate their children.
