The founders
Left a corporate career in Bengaluru to start Licious.
Left a corporate career to co-found Licious in 2015.
The story
Buying meat in India usually meant a local shop with uncertain hygiene, quality and weight. Abhay Hanjura and Vivek Gupta saw a large, unorganised market where customers had no trusted brand.
Founded in Bengaluru in 2015, Licious controlled the whole chain: sourcing, processing in its own facilities, cold storage and delivery. That allowed consistent quality and a branded promise of freshness.
In October 2021, a $52 million Series G led by IIFL AMC’s Late Stage Tech Fund valued Licious at $1 billion — making it India’s first D2C unicorn.
Timeline
- 2015Founded in Bengaluru.
- 2016–20Builds processing centres and cold chain; expands to more cities.
- Jul 2021$192M Series F led by Temasek.
- Oct 2021$52M Series G led by IIFL AMC at $1B — unicorn.
How the money came in
| When | Round | Amount | Led by | Valuation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2021 | Series F | $192M | Temasek | — |
| Oct 2021 | Series G | $52M | IIFL AMC Late Stage Tech Fund | $1B |
The methods that worked
Brand an unbranded category
Turning a commodity bought on trust into a branded product with consistent standards.
Vertical integration
Owning processing and the cold chain made quality controllable — and harder to copy.
Patient city-by-city expansion
Each new city needed its own supply and logistics, so expansion was deliberate.
The hard parts
- Cold-chain logistics are costly and operationally complex.
- Perishable inventory leaves little room for forecasting errors.
Lessons for Indian founders
- Large unorganised markets are opportunities for trust-led brands.
- In physical products, controlling the supply chain can be the moat.
- Plan for capital needs — infrastructure takes years to pay back.
Conclusion
Licious shows how operational depth — not just an app — can build a consumer brand in a traditional category.
The Founder Playbook includes Build Your Unicorn, a simulation of hiring, capital and fundraising.
Sources
Educational summary based on public reporting. Licious is a trademark of its owner; The Revenue is not affiliated with the company. Figures are as reported at the time and may since have changed. Spotted an error? Tell us.
