The round also saw participation from various other investors and family houses, including BL Taparia Family Office (B2V Ventures), Sixth Sense Ventures’ founder and CEO Nikhil Vora, Vikram Saboo & Family, Arunkumar Jatia & Family, Vitalis Capital Family Trust, Anil Mittal Family Office and other high-net-worth individuals (HNIs).
The startup plans to use the fresh capital to expand operations, enhance R&D capabilities, scale distribution and retail presence. Besides, the proceeds would be deployed for team expansion and strengthen brand-building efforts through digital marketing and industry collaborations.
Cremeitalia also aims to bolster its B2B outreach, expand its physical retail footprint in new cities, scale its direct-to-consumer (D2C) sales channels and enhance consumer offerings.
Strategic use of funds
Prateek Mittal, CEO and cofounder of Cremeitalia, said, “With this funding round, our goal is to achieve a 5X scale-up in the next 18-24 months while building a fundamentally strong business that sets new industry benchmarks.”Rajas Dhote, cofounder and COO, said, “By deploying these funds strategically, we aim to streamline operations, improve economies of scale to achieve higher gross margins, and deliver superior value to our customers. Many of our investors come from manufacturing backgrounds, and we look forward to leveraging their expertise to drive operational efficiencies and sustainable growth.”
Founded in 2018 by Prateek Mittal and Rajas Dhote, Cremeitalia makes cheese products using traditional Italian farm methods and technology.
The startup competes against Eleftheria Cheese in the immediate cheese product category and, in the broader segment of dairy products, with other well-known startups like Country Delight, Happy Milk, Puresh Daily, Stellapps, SRC Farms, Milk Mantra, Aamro Dairies, Absolute Milk, Matratva Dairy, and “The Good Cow Company.”
The development comes at the heart of several dairy startups receiving funding from investors to enhance their operations and expand their market reach.
In November last year, dairy startup Doodhvale Farms raised $3 Mn (around INR 25.33 Cr) in an undisclosed funding round co-led by Atomic Capital and Singularity Early Opportunities Fund.
Before that in October, another dairytech startup Stellapps secured Series C funding of $26 Mn (around INR 218.5 Cr) in a mix of debt and equity infusion from a host of existing investors, including Blume Ventures, Omnivore, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, IDH Farmfit Fund, 500 Startups and Blue Ashva Capital, along with Miledeep Capital joining the cap table.
This interest from the investors is evident as India is the number one milk-producing nation in the world. The country produces 24% of the world’s milk and has witnessed a 51% increase in milk production between 2014 and 2022.
All in all, the Indian dairy industry is projected to become an INR 49.95 Lakh Cr opportunity by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 13% from 2023.
Source : Dairynews7x7 Feb 9th 2025 Inc42 By Bhupendra Paintola