FMCG Company Rage Coffee raises funds from Refex Capital, 9Unicorns and Others; plans to expand its omni-channel distribution

Delhi, April 7th, 2021: Rage Coffee, a Delhi-based FMCG coffee company that manufactures, markets, and distributes innovative packaged coffee products, has raised an undisclosed amount of growth capital as part of its pre-Series A funding round from a clutch of investors led by Refex Capital.

The round also saw participation from other marquee investors including 9 Unicorns Venture Capital Fund, Emarson Computers, CC One Venture Labs, Spotlight Capital, Evolvx Advisory, Darshan Deora and KRS Jamwal. The company has also raised revenue-based financing from Getvantage in this round.

The freshly infused capital will be utilized for marketing and distribution purposes as Rage Coffee is planning to expand its online presence and offline footprint. The company will also use the funds to scale up its production and launch innovative new products. Further, on the hiring front, Rage Coffee will be hiring senior leaders in marketing and sales.

Speaking on the development, Bharat Sethi, Founder of Rage Coffee said, “Our focus on ingredients, formulations, manufacturing techniques, packaging, and direct-to-consumer distribution to bring high-quality coffee products while offering a unique coffee experience to our customers place us in a great spot to build a strong brand. We are therefore planning to double down our efforts across all the channels. We are building a truly omni-channel FMCG brand, with distribution strategies being implemented for the first time given our digital DNA. Over 35% of all business generated on our D2C channel is from repeat customers and over 45% of all revenue comes from 2nd time buyers. Besides, global expansion is also on our cart. I am glad to have such distinguished investors join us in this exciting journey.”

The company plans to grow its revenues 3x this year. This follows from a 5-fold increase from last year. Bharat adds, “We wanted to upgrade an average Indian consumer and create products that could compete with high-end specialty café like coffee experience. We see ourselves becoming a caffeine innovation company as a lot of our new product development, we are doing currently, is happening around caffeine, as an active ingredient that we use in our everyday lives in the form of chewables, ground coffee, energy bars, and caffeine snacking items. We want to make great quality coffee simpler and less complicated.” 

The Indian coffee market is estimated to be close to ₹11,700 crores at present and is expected to double to ₹24,800 crores in the next five years. The company, which currently holds a small share in the market, is looking to grab “a lion’s share” in the high-growth segment with its strong channel and distribution network. 

Sridhar Parthasarathy, Managing Partner at Refex Capital added, “At Refex Capital, we strive to back founders who are obsessed with the problem, show unwavering conviction to solve it, and are relentlessly focused on delighting the customers. We are very impressed with the way Bharat has handled COVID uncertainty, grew the revenue three-fold and built strong internal capabilities in terms of strengthening distribution and marketing and launching innovative product flavours. We are very confident of RageCoffee's growth story and believe that our investment will help further establish its leadership in the market.” 

The award-winning and world’s first plant-based-vitamins-enriched coffee brand was founded in 2018 by Bharat Sethi. Swiftly scaling up new territories since its inception, Rage Coffee has so far expanded its offline network from 5 to 20 distributors, 4 CFAs, covering 600+ offline touchpoints across India. With Mumbai, Pune, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Chennai being the main hubs for online sales of Rage Coffee, the brand records its maximum offline demand coming from tier-II cities such as Jaipur, Kochi, Ahmedabad, North-Eastern States, etc. The brand’s D2C channel (website) contributes towards 35% of its overall business and 50% of its revenues come from offline wholesale and DC-based hyperlocal grocery platforms. The company was recently accepted into Amazon’s Global Selling Accelerator Program which plans to take Indian brands to global markets through the Amazon network.

About Rage Coffee

Rage Coffee is a digitally native FMCG company that manufactures, markets & distributes innovative coffee products. The company has created craft coffee that is instantly consumable, affordable, comes in a variety of flavors – is ready to mix - and is convenient to carry in biodegradable tube shots. Rage Coffee products are retailed through their own website, all leading online platforms, and over 600 touchpoints offline PAN India through a network of distributors. Rage Coffee products are US FDA, FSSAI, ISO registered and manufactured at a GMP compliant facility. For more information, please visit: www.ragecoffee.com