Matrix leads follow-on investment in &Me

Bengaluru, March 12, 2019: &Me, a Bengaluru based food and beverage brand, focused on women's daily health & wellness, has raised a follow-on investment round led by existing investors Matrix Partners India, along with participation from a consumer VC fund, Sauce.vc. &Me will use the freshly infused capital to expand its team, scale operations nationally and widen its product offering.

Founded by Ankur Goyal in 2017, &Me caters to women's health with a range of products that combine Ayurveda and Modern Nutrition. The brand focuses on solving daily lifestyle challenges of Indian women with drinks that relieve PMS symptoms, help with PCOS and enhance their hair & skin quality from within. &Me will soon launch their fitness range with products for Fat Metabolism, Immunity & Strength (Protein).

Ankur Goyal, Founder and CEO, &Me said, "The response from the market has been overwhelming and satisfying. We've received a lot of warmth from our consumers who have experienced instant relief after consuming the PMS drink. We are determined to solve many such challenges for women in the most convenient, healthy and tasty formats. Our journey so far has proven our belief that women are looking for products created especially for them.'

Manu Chandra, Founder and Managing Partner, Sauce.vc, said "We are excited to back Ankur's vision for &Me - India's first F&B brand, exclusively for women. At Sauce, we are always inclined towards consumer centric brands with razor-sharp USPs. &Me fits our thesis perfectly by being focussed on women's daily health & lifestyle challenges with preservative free, clean & convenient products.'

"We believe that the $1B+ market for functional foods and beverages is still coming of age in India. &Me's core differentiator lies within its exceptional product and brand positioning that targets urban Indian women whose daily lifestyle denies them the benefit of essential micronutrients. As early investors in &Me, we consider ourselves privileged to partner with Ankur. Our investment is true to our broader thesis of investing in home-grown Consumer brands.' commented, Sanjot Malhi, Vice President, Matrix India.

About &Me:
&Me is founded by Ankur Goyal with a vision to provide customised solutions to proactive, health-conscious women, who aspire to be fit. Ankur has an extensive experience in the Food & Beverage industry, including stints at Nestle and PaperBoat. He is a graduate from IIT and Stanford University. Further information about &Me can be found at www.andme.in. The drinks are also available online at Big Basket, Amazon and Nykaa with over 400 retail outlets in Bangalore including Godrej Nature's Basket, Nilgiri's & Namdhari.

About Sauce VC:
Sauce.vc is a consumer focused early stage fund. It invests selectively with a high engagement model. Expertise is delivered through a network of service partners and board of successful industry stalwarts. It has commenced investing in 2019 by backing brands including &Me, XYXX Innerwear and Teahalt. It is founded by private equity veteran and angel investor Manu Chandra who has also been an early backer of consumer brands such as Epigamia and Wealthy.in. Further information is available at www.sauce.vc

About Matrix Partners India:
Matrix Partners India is an investment firm with approximately $1 billion under management. Founded in 2006, the firm invests in companies targeting the Indian consumer and enterprise market at the seed, early and early growth stages. Matrix India has invested in several market leading companies such as Ola (local transportation), Quikr (online classifieds), Practo (digital health platform), Dailyhunt (mobile local language platform), Treebo (digital hotel chain), Limeroad (social e-commerce platform), Mswipe (mobile POS), Five Star Business Finance (SME lending), OfBusiness (credit led B2B marketplace), Vogo (scooter sharing), Razorpay (payments), and ZipLoan (small business lending) among others. Matrix India has advisory offices in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai. Matrix Partners has a global network of funds investing in the US, China and India, with approximately $5 billion under management. Further information is available at www.matrixpartners.in