India’s Drums Food raises $25.6m in funding round

India’s Drums Food International has reportedly raised funding of INR1.8bn ($25.6m) in a series C funding round.

Financing was led by Danone Manifesto Ventures, which is an investment arm of French multinational food company Danone.

The funding round was co-led by Belgium investment firm Verlinvest and Drums’ existing investor DSG Consumer Partners (DSGCP), as well as Cipla executive vice-chairperson Samina Vaziralli, a new investor.

With this funding, the company intends to expand its presence across 25 cities in India and add high protein, lactose-free and probiotics to its existing portfolio of yoghurts offered under the Epigamia brand.

Epigamia founding partner Rahul Jain was quoted by Foodbev as saying: “We have a five-year vision to expand distribution across 50,000 touch points. We have been able to create and demonstrate value in managing a cold chain logistics fleet and intend to continue to scale this further as we develop new products. We may also look to partner or make some acquisitions in the future.”

The amount raised in the series B funding round was used by Epigamia to expand its portfolio and included artisanal curd, which is a lactose-free curd and Greek yoghurt smoothie.

Danone Manifesto Ventures managing director Laurent Marcel said: “This investment, our first with Danone Manifesto Ventures in Asia, is a perfect fit, as Epigamia places taste, quality and health at the centre of its model.”