Matrix Partners India leads INR 70 cr investment in Country Delight

New Delhi. 8th February, 2019: Matrix Partners India announced today that it has led an INR 70 cr (USD 10 million) round of investment in Country Delight, a direct-to-home, mass premium fresh milk brand. Existing investors Orios Venture Partners also participated in the fund-raise. The funds will be used to scale operations nationally.

India is the largest consumer and producer of dairy in the world. Country Delight is targeting the ~$100B dairy market in India, growing over 10% per year. Today, 80% of the market is unorganized, with private brands making up only 10% of the market. Over 90% of the organized milk market is catered to by mass brands.

Country Delight was founded by Chakradhar Gade and Nitin Kaushal in 2015 and is trying to revolutionize the way milk is consumed in India. The startup controls the whole supply chain and sources its own milk from top quality, local farms, and delivers directly to a consumer's home with minimal processing and the highest standards of purity, within 24-36 hours. The service is delivered through a convenient mobile application that allows consumers to easily subscribe to the service. Country Delight is also entering several other fresh food segments like yoghurt, paneer, to name a few, while adhering to the same high standards of product quality.

Commenting on the fundraise, Chakradhar Gade, Co-Founder, Country Delight said, "This is the first step for us to achieve the goal of building one of India's largest consumer brands that is direct to home and driven by consumer obsession (consumer first thinking) in all our products."

Rehan Yar Khan, Managing Partner, Orios Venture Partners commented, "We are very impressed with what Chakradhar and Nitin have built since we first invested 2 years back. We are delighted to invest in this round and have Matrix join the company building efforts. Milk though at first sight looks like a staid business, is amongst of India's largest industries and is ripe for disruption with consumers becoming quality conscious. Combined with technology, the possibilities of the home delivered milk business are immense."

Avnish Bajaj, Founder and Managing Director, Matrix India commented, "We have been tracking Country Delight for more than a year now and have been very impressed with Chakradhar and Nitin's vision for it backed by strong on the ground execution and customer feedback. We are privileged to invest in this round alongside Orios and thank them and the founders for this opportunity. We believe Country Delight founders vision is at the sweet spot of growing consumer aspirations, technology, innovative business models, environment and is as "Made in India for India' a model as they come and are excited to be a partner on this journey.'

About Country Delight:
Country Delight is a Delhi based direct-to-consumer fresh foods brand. Country Delight provides locally sourced, natural, fresh and unadulterated cow & buffalo milk directly to the consumer's doorstep. Country Delight adds no milk powder or preservatives. The milk is tested on more than 70 parameters by an FSSAI approved external lab and quality report is sent to the consumers' doorstep every 15 days. Country Delight is also launching other top quality food products like yoghurt, ghee, bread, etc.
https://www.countrydelight.in/

About Orios Venture Partners:
Launched in 2013, Orios Venture Partners is one of India's leading seed-stage Venture Capital funds which primarily invests in India-focused consumer tech and non-tech startups and businesses. Each investment is backed with continuous support in strategy, operations, marketing and fundraising to help them breakout cost-effectively and build loyal customers. Notable portfolio companies include Pharmeasy, GoMechanic and brands like Yumlane and PrettySecrets, amongst others. For more information visit http://www.oriosvp.com/

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) and Cloudnine Hospitals (leading chain of maternity hospitals), 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. Further information is available at www.matrixpartners.in