Stellapps secures USD 26 million in Series C
Stellapps Technologies, India’s pioneering dairytech company, has announced its Series C funding round of $26 million in equity & debt to accelerate its mooMark business. mooMark is focused on contract manufacturing and private labeled dairy business of high-quality value-added dairy products, that are both sustainable and traceable. While Stellapps started as a Dairy IoT solutions, over a period it has established itself as a formidable player in contract manufacturing and private labeling of value-added dairy products under the “mooMark” brand.
The company utilizes a low-capex and tech-powered approach to deliver these products to Indian and global customers. Their sophisticated tech stack improves traceability and sustainability, ensuring that mooMark products are completely traceable and help in reducing the carbon footprint, especially at the farm level. This allows FMCG, D2C, and HoReCa businesses to offer premium, unique dairy products that support their Net Zero goals.
The Series C round saw participation from existing investors (Blume Ventures , Omnivore, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, IDH Farmfit Fund, 500Startups & Blue Ashva Capital), and new investor Miledeep Capital, with debt funding provided by the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) . Stellapps is also backed by Celesta Capital, Nutreco, Qualcomm Ventures, ABB Technology Ventures, Venture Highway, Binny Bansal, BEENEXT and Arun Seed. Ranjith Mukundan, CEO of Stellapps, opined, "We are excited to receive continued commitment from our existing investors and welcome aboard new investors as part of our Series C round. This capital will help mooMark scale its value-added dairy product offering to its customers across India in a sustainable manner and strengthen its export segment going forward”.
Emerging Value Added Dairy Products (VADP) Segment
Value-added dairy products in India are dairy-based products that undergo additional processing or enhancement beyond basic milk, resulting in higher market value and consumer demand. Popular value-added dairy products include ghee, butter, cheese, paneer, yogurt (curd), flavored milk, ice cream, and milk-based sweets like khoa and rasgulla.The demand for these products is rising due to increased urbanization, changing dietary preferences, and health awareness among consumers. Health-conscious variants, such as probiotic yogurt and low-fat dairy, are also gaining traction. Additionally, fortified dairy products with added nutrients like vitamin D and calcium are becoming popular.
Source : Invest India
India’s dairy sector, the largest milk producer in the world, benefits from these value-added products by boosting farmers’ incomes and providing consumers with a diverse range of nutritious choices. Government initiatives, along with innovations in processing technologies, have further encouraged the growth of this segment, making it a vital component of the dairy economy.
Traceability in Milk and Dairy Products: Ensuring Safety and Trust in India's Dairy Sector
Traceability in milk and milk products is crucial in India to ensure food safety, quality control, and consumer trust. It refers to the ability to track the entire journey of milk, from the farm to the marketplace, including collection, processing, packaging, and distribution. This transparency is essential in identifying the source of any contamination or adulteration, thus protecting public health.
Given India's vast and diverse dairy supply chain, traceability helps maintain hygiene standards, ensures compliance with food safety regulations (like FSSAI norms), and prevents fraud. It also supports the growing demand for premium and organic dairy products, where consumers are increasingly conscious of the origin and quality of what they consume. Moreover, traceability enhances the accountability of producers and processors, driving improvements in the overall efficiency and sustainability of the dairy sector.
In a market as large as India's, implementing traceability not only protects consumers but also supports the livelihoods of dairy farmers by ensuring fair practices and fostering trust in the marketplace.
Evolution from Dairy-Tech to a traceable VADP provider
While Stellapps started as a Dairy IoT solutions, over a period it has established itself as a formidable player in contract manufacturing and private labeling of value-added dairy products under the “mooMark” brand. The company utilizes a low-capex and tech-powered approach to deliver these products to Indian and global customers. Their sophisticated tech stack improves traceability and sustainability, ensuring that mooMark products are completely traceable and help in reducing the carbon footprint, especially at the farm level. This allows FMCG, D2C, and HoReCa businesses to offer premium, unique dairy products that support their Net Zero goals.Incubated at IIT-Madras, Stellapps' dairy-tech is deployed in over 42,000 villages, enabling the movement of more than 14 million liters of milk every day. With such extensive experience, mooMark now effectively sources high-quality traceable milk, and processes & supplies premium value-added dairy products.
Vikram Gawande, Lead - Growth Investments, Blume stated, “Stellapps to us stands for traceability and quality dairy. Ranjith and his team have built a robust and distinctive supply-side network for traceable milk by utilizing their technological expertise. The recent funding will enable them to rapidly increase demand for their Value-Added Dairy Products (VADP), positioning them as a formidable profitable supplier in the market.”
Reihem Roy, Partner, Omnivore added, “Omnivore is a strong believer in India’s dairy sector which represents a colossal 6.5% of the nation’s GDP. We are excited to continue our partnership with Stellapps in their endeavor to provide high quality value-added dairy products at scale while uplifting the dairy economy with traceability, sustainability and farmer-first solutions”.
Som Toohey and Melinda Gróf, Investment Managers at IDH Farmfit Fund shared, “We are pleased to deepen our partnership with Stellapps, whose digital solutions are driving increased income and sustainability for smallholder dairy farmers across India. By scaling mooMark, Stellapps continues to enhance supply chain transparency and reduce environmental impact, aligning with our mission to support sustainable agricultural practices and inclusive business models that improve smallholder farmer livelihoods”.
Kiran Ch, Chief Strategy Officer at Miledeep Capital said: “Miledeep is excited to have invested in Stellapps as they work towards bringing traceability and sustainability across the dairy supply chain. We are proud to be part of this journey, supporting Stellapps and their brand mooMark in their mission to offer high-quality, traceable dairy products that empower farmers, reduce environmental impact, and transform the dairy ecosystem”.
James Polan, DFC’s Vice President of Health & Agribusiness said: “DFC is pleased to support the promotion of farm-level traceability and increased farmer incomes in India’s dairy sector. DFC’s loan to mooMark Private Limited will support the company’s expansion into fully traceable value-added dairy product offerings and promote the inclusion of at least 200,000 smallholder dairy farmers in mooMark’s supply chain”.