HIGH STEAKS

MEAT DELIVERY START-UP LICIOUS HAS ESTABLISHED A FOOTHOLD IN THE DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER SPACE. THE UNICORN HAS NOW SET ITS SIGHTS ON THE HIGHLY COMPETITIVE OFFLINE MARKET AS IT PURSUES THE NEXT ROUND OF GROWTH

- KRISHNA GOPALAN

NIHARI NOOK, SHAWARMA Square and Salami-these are the names of conference rooms at the Bengaluru headquarters of gourmet meat delivery brand Licious. Housed in Domlur, in the eastern part of the Garden City, everything in the office is about meat: Be it the pinkish salmon colour palette or partitions that resemble chopping boards.

The interiors of the office are a meat-eater's dream. But for Licious Co-founders Vivek Gupta and Abhay Hanjura, they have a much deeper meaning. There is a social stigma associated with selling meat and seafood, so giving it more acceptability is what the Co-founders have worked towards from the time they met-Gupta was working with Helion Ventures, while Hanjura was well-set in insurance risk management and got the business off the ground in mid-2015.

The ambitious twosome spotted a business opportunity but also realised how much work lay ahead-moving people away from a wet market to buying meat online at a premium. With more than 70% of people in the country being meat eaters, the market was growing, even though most of the players were in the unorganised sector. The latent market existed, and the duo went for it. Today, Licious has a presence in 20 cities. Along the way, its revenue has grown to ₹746.38 crore in FY23 from ₹69.43 crore in FY19. Licious also became India's first D2C unicorn in October 2021 after raising $52 million from IIFL AMC's Late Stage Tech Fund. And over time, it has had a roster of investors such as Temasek, Multiples, 30ne4 Capital, Mayfield, Vertex Growth Fund, and Bertelsmann India Investments.