TenderCuts, a meat and seafood company based in Chennai, India, has raised USD 15 million (EUR 12.5 million) in a funding round to boost business expansion, YourStory reported.
The round was led by mid-market PE fund Paragon Partners, and participated in by agri-food tech VC fund NABVENTURES.
The funding will enable the startup to expand its current business operations and execute plans for the growth of organic and inorganic products. It will also be used to improve TenderCuts’ supply chain and technology infrastructure, which will aid innovation and accessibility of its products and services.
“This investment will pave the way for us to enter new markets and further establish our omnichannel network,” TenderCuts Founder and CEO Nishanth Chandran said. “We are delighted to partner with Paragon Partners and NABVENTURES and look forward to tapping into their significant experience in growing consumer businesses in the retail, agri, food and beverage, and e-commerce sectors.”
TenderCuts was established in 2016. It currently runs 25 stores in Chennai and Hyderabad using an integrated supply chain supported by proprietary technologies. The stores mainly serve walk-in and online customers with a variety of products ranging from fresh chicken, mutton, seafood, marinades, pickles, eggs, and ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook products such as cold cuts, sausages, kebabs, and shawarmas.
The startup said the meat and seafood market in India has an estimated value of USD 100 billion (EUR 83 billion), but 95 percent of the market remains unorganized. The organized segment has recorded a significant growth during the pandemic over increasing consumer concern over food quality, health, hygiene, and convenience.
Paragon Partners Co-Founder and Senior Partner Siddharth Parekh said his company’s experience in retail and e-commerce will help TenderCuts speed up business expansion and growth toward organized segment.
Meanwhile, NABVENTURES, with its strong network of farmer producer organizations and farmers, will help improve the sourcing segment within TenderCuts’ supply chain which, in turn, benefits farmers in NABVENTURES’ network, NABVENTURES CEO Rajesh Ranjan said.
“The direct-to-consumer meat market is at a nascent stage in India, with less than one percent penetration,” Ranjan said. “TenderCuts has been able to build a differentiated business model with omnichannel capability enabling TenderCuts to offer quality meat and seafood to the offline segment as well, which is around 96 percent of the market.”
