by Suman Gupta
New Delhi, 10th April 2021: Tabling dairy and fresh farm produce to end customers in ‘Bharat’, Ranchi-based Puresh Daily has caused a lot of excitement within the Indian angel investment network. The food-tech startup has raised ₹1.2 crores in its seed round from Dhianu Das of Alfa ventures and Agility Venture Partners.
Puresh daily offers subscription for milk produce, tabling produce from their eight franchise farms to 1200 subscribers in three cities namely Ranchi, Ramgarh and Bokaro. They offer chemical-free products through value chains augmented by AI. This allows them to provide traceable logistics, green packaging and smart payment options.
“We’re charged with the investors’ confidence, as they oversubscribed our startup during this seed round. With these funds, we will expand our product base to at least ten tier-II more cities, to 20,000 subscribers and partner with different entrepreneurs”, said Manish Piyush, Founder at Puresh Daily. The BITS & IIM-alumni handles marketing and business development for their brand. Having worked in many different parts of the world, Piyush brings in 14+ years of leadership experience as a TAS officer at the TATA Group.
How has the business shaped up so far? Unlike other companies which suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns in 2020, the demand for milk and fresh produce shot up as essential items. Manish and Aditya, the co-founders saw high growth within the year and expect their expansion journey to reflect the same.
“Milk is essential for India’s kitchens, and we reach our customers’ doors every day with healthy products – that’s how we’re succeeding”, added Piyush.
“We expect the Farm to Home space to explode in the coming months. Biggies like Tatas & Reliance are entering the market through investments and acquisitions too. By incubating our business model at Ranchi, we’ve proved that consumers from the so-called ‘Bharat’ are ready and willing to pay a premium for such services”, said Aditya Kumar, a B- Tech from BITS and 14+ years of experience of handling critical projects in TATA Motors. He takes technology, finance and product development for the brand.
Kumar explained that they would invest a significant part of their capital in business development, technology and brand building. They also expect to scale to different tier-II cities and metros. “We also want to invest our time and resources in innovation in products and packaging”, he added.
“Dairy has been a growing sector, and the pandemic has only given fuel to the fire of Direct to Home milk delivery models. Founders Manish and Aditya solve genuine farm management issues, even as they pour quality, pure milk for customers in sustainable packaging like glass bottles. And we are happy to invest in Puresh to take the movement farther”, Deepanker Agarwal, Director at Ajanta Bottles Pvt Ltd and a lead investor in Puresh Daily.
Angel investor network Agility is backing further investment into Puresh Daily, citing a solid team and their investors’ proven track record. “First, milk is a recession-free business, capable of growth in COVID times. It’s also highly unorganised, with several dairy farms in dire need of upgradation and market reach. Their idea has enormous potential”, said Prashant Narang, founder, Agility Venture Partners.
