Chai Point on Thursday announced a $20 million Series C funding round, led by Paragon Partners. All existing investors - Eight Roads (Fidelity’s India PE arm), Saama Capital and DSG – participated in this round, with some of them investing super pro rata.
Chai Point, which was founded in 2010 by Amuleek Singh Bijral and Professor Tarun Khanna of Harvard Business School, has now grown to become the largest organised chai company in India.
It is an omnichannel company with stores, delivery and fresh-milk based dispenser platform called boxC.in as its operating channels.
The tea market in India is pegged at Rs 1.5 lakh crore, and Chai Point is the country's largest organised brand. With the average per capita consumption of the beverage increasing at a steady rate of 20-30%, the market is ever expanding.
The company sells three lakh cups of tea a day across all its channels – stores, delivery, and dispensers – and is poised to do 5X more in the next three years.
Commenting on the investment, Amuleek Singh Bijral, Co-founder and CEO of Chai Point said, “This funding round is primarily aimed at further strengthening the brand’s multi-channel go-to-market. A substantial portion of our investment proceeds will go towards deepening our sales, marketing, and service operations for our automated hot beverage dispending business - boxC.in - which is the next growth driver for the business."
The company is also planning to enhance food menu.
Siddharth Parekh, Co-Founder and Senior Partner of Paragon Partners, said, “We are bullish on the consumption story in India and are excited to partner with the company. This investment is in line with our overarching investment theme of partnering high-calibre entrepreneurs with compelling business models.”
Chai Point is set to launch its 100th store next month and has deployed close to 2,000 fresh-milk based dispensers.