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Captain Fresh Joins IPO Wave with ₹1,700-Crore Issue as Losses Narrow to ₹229 Crore

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Captain Fresh Joins IPO Wave with ₹1,700-Crore Issue as Losses Narrow to ₹229 Crore

Captain Fresh, the Bengaluru-based B2B seafood exporter, has formally set the stage for its stock market debut with a plan to raise ₹1,700 crore through a fresh issue of shares. The decision, cleared by its board last week, follows the company’s recent shift from a private to a public entity and its rebranding to Infifresh Foods Limited, according to regulatory filings.

Founded in 2020 by Utham Gowda, Captain Fresh has rapidly grown into one of India’s leading tech-led supply chain platforms for packaged seafood. Its operations stretch across India and international markets such as the Middle East, Europe, and the United States. The company positions itself as a bulk supplier to retailers and distributors, connecting fishing communities and aquaculture hubs directly with demand centers.

Financially, the momentum has been strong. In FY24, the company posted an operating revenue of ₹1,395 crore, marking a 71 percent surge from ₹817 crore in FY23. Net losses also narrowed to ₹229 crore compared with ₹294 crore a year earlier, highlighting improving operational efficiency.

The IPO plans come on the heels of a ₹250-crore pre-IPO funding round in January, which saw participation from marquee investors such as Prosus Ventures, Accel, and Tiger Global. Prominent backers also include Swiggy cofounder Sriharsha Majety’s family office, Sid Khanna of India Equity Partners, and the late Sunjay Kapur of Sona Comstar.

With this move, Captain Fresh joins the growing list of B2B tech-first firms like Zetwerk and Infra.Market preparing to tap public markets. If successful, the ₹1,700-crore fundraising will give Captain Fresh capital to strengthen its sourcing base, expand global reach, and double down on technology that ensures fresher seafood for buyers worldwide.

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Saugata Gupta Bets on Foods: Marico’s Saffola Oats, Honey & Snacks May Outgrow Edible Oils’ 19% Share by 2028 

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Saugata Gupta Bets on Foods: Marico’s Saffola Oats, Honey & Snacks May Outgrow Edible Oils’ 19% Share by 2028

Homegrown FMCG giant Marico expects its packaged food business under Saffola to outgrow its edible oil vertical within the next three to four years, Managing Director and CEO Saugata Gupta said.

In FY25, the foods division crossed the Rs 900-crore milestone, contributing 11 per cent to Marico’s domestic sales, compared with 19 per cent from edible oils. While oils grew at low single digits, foods surged 33 per cent, driven by oats, honey, snacks and newer health-focused launches.

“Foods is more profitable than oils and carries a larger headroom for expansion. Saffola’s portfolio will continue to grow with higher distribution, improved penetration and consumer trials,” Gupta told PTI. The company is stepping up its presence in muesli, honey and healthy snacking through Saffola Crunchiez, while also betting on its digital-first brands True Elements and Plix in plant-based nutrition.

Marico closed FY25 with consolidated revenue above Rs 10,000 crore, including Rs 7,581 crore from its standalone India business. Chairman Harsh Mariwala had earlier set a target of Rs 20,000 crore topline by 2030, hinging on innovation, brand-led growth and operational efficiency.

Gupta said the company aims to double in five years, implying a 13 per cent compound annual growth rate. That requires high single-digit expansion in core businesses, 20 per cent-plus growth from foods and double-digit gains internationally.

The maker of Parachute and Livon is also scaling manufacturing capacity while investing in automation, AI and analytics to sharpen decision-making. “We are not capex heavy, but we are making judicious calls on technology and capability building,” Gupta noted.

Advertising and promotion will remain a priority, with spends tilted towards above-the-line campaigns and digital outreach. Gupta stressed that Marico has not cut back on brand investments despite cost pressures, calling A&P spend “critical” for the company’s diversification journey.

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“Land in 10 Minutes?” Zepto Joins Hands with India’s Largest Branded Land Developer HoABL Ahead of Its India Listing Plans

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“Land in 10 Minutes?” Zepto Joins Hands with India’s Largest Branded Land Developer HoABL Ahead of Its India Listing Plans

Quick commerce player Zepto has rolled out one of its most unusual brand tie-ups yet, joining hands with The House of Abhinandan Lodha (HoABL), India’s largest branded land developer. The campaign, released during Janmashtami, plays on Zepto’s “10-minute delivery” pitch and shows land plots being brought straight to consumers, with a delivery partner carrying a symbolic miniature of those plots. The film signs off with the line: “This Janmashtami, reimagine land investments, with India’s largest branded land developer, The House of Abhinandan Lodha and Zepto.”

It remains unclear whether the arrangement is limited to advertising visibility or if Zepto will list HoABL land parcels directly, similar to property platforms like MagicBricks or 99acres. ET has sought confirmation from the company.

This is not Zepto’s first experiment with offbeat partnerships. Earlier this year, the startup worked with Czech automaker Skoda to facilitate test drives for its Kylaq SUV, an association that briefly went viral after being mistaken for a “10-minute car delivery” service.

The campaign comes at a crucial time for Zepto, which is laying the groundwork for its India IPO. The company recently secured Rs 400 crore from Motilal Oswal Financial Services as part of a larger Rs 1,000 crore transaction, valuing the firm at around $5.4 billion, or Rs 47,298 crore. In parallel, it is closing a primary round led by General Catalyst and Avenir Growth, which also includes Rs 1,500 crore infused by Zepto’s founders through debt arranged from Edelweiss and several domestic family offices.

Additional minority stakes have been picked up by Elcid Investments and MapmyIndia through Motilal Oswal’s wealth arm. With its domicile shift to India and corporate rebranding complete, Zepto is clearly working to ensure its IPO lands as smoothly as its 10-minute pitch.

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ITC Food Tech Scales 60 Kitchens Across 5 Cities, Adds Pan-Asian Brand Sansho and Pilots Aashirvaad Thalis in Bengaluru Corporates

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ITC Food Tech Scales 60 Kitchens Across 5 Cities, Adds Pan-Asian Brand Sansho and Pilots Aashirvaad Thalis in Bengaluru Corporates

ITC, best known for everything from cigarettes to cookies, is quietly building its next big bet in food. Under the banner of ITC Food Tech, the conglomerate is carving a space in India’s fresh foods and food delivery market, led by cloud kitchens and new-age dining experiments.

Launched in 2020 with a single cloud kitchen in Bengaluru, the business now operates over 60 kitchens across Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad. Three flagship brands sit at its core: Aashirvaad Soul Creations, serving affordable, homestyle vegetarian thalis; ITC Master Chef Creations, a premium North Indian gourmet line with butter chicken, kebabs and dal makhani; and Sunfeast Baked Creations, an extension of ITC’s popular FMCG cookie brand into breads and desserts.

Recently, ITC introduced Sansho, a Pan-Asian delivery brand, and acquired frozen foods player Prasuma to strengthen its reach in ready-to-cook and gourmet segments. The group says expansion will remain “measured”, with Delhi joining its network this year and the target of crossing 80 kitchens by December.

Rohit Bhalla, who heads ITC Food Tech, calls it a “startup within ITC” but one built on the strengths of the conglomerate. These include procurement at scale, packaging innovations, and most importantly, culinary expertise from ITC Hotels. “Indian cuisines are hard to standardise and scale. That is the gap we want to solve,” he says.

The strategy is not limited to delivery apps. ITC has started piloting Aashirvaad thalis in five Bengaluru corporate food courts and is experimenting with a café format for Sunfeast Baked Creations. Bhalla insists scale will not come at the cost of consistency. “Cloud kitchens are operationally complex. We spent our first three years cracking Bengaluru before adding more cities,” he adds.

With food delivery growing fast but still fragmented, ITC is betting that its brand trust and backend muscle can help it win a long game.

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Varun Alagh Rings the Alarm: Local FMCG Brands Steal Share with Aggressive Pricing, While Honasa Posts Double-Digit Gains

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Varun Alagh Rings the Alarm: Local FMCG Brands Steal Share with Aggressive Pricing, While Honasa Posts Double-Digit Gains

India’s fast-moving consumer goods market is in the middle of a quiet but telling churn. Regional and younger brands are beginning to punch above their weight, eating into the turf of household majors like Hindustan Unilever, Britannia, Dabur and Marico. The shift, according to Honasa Consumer chairman and co-founder Varun Alagh, is being powered by consumers looking for sharper value and products that speak to local preferences.

“These new-age and regional players are coming in with aggressive pricing and better distributor margins, which is putting pressure on the growth rates of larger FMCG companies,” Alagh told PTI. He added that these challengers are adopting vernacular-first strategies, striking a chord in smaller markets where established companies have traditionally dominated.

The numbers back the caution. June quarter earnings saw muted volume growth across several majors. Britannia’s vice chairman Varun Berry admitted to “many battles in smaller territories,” pointing to specific competitor analysis underway to protect share in categories like biscuits. Dabur CEO Mohit Malhotra acknowledged that its Lal Tail business had ceded ground in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to a local entrant, though he stressed recovery plans were in motion.

HUL’s finance chief Ritesh Tiwari highlighted the detergent bar segment as one particularly vulnerable category, describing it as “spread out with multiple local and global players.” Marico too flagged stress in value-added hair oils, though its leadership expects recovery in Parachute as smaller players find it harder to sustain when input costs stabilise.

In contrast, Alagh said Honasa, which owns Mamaearth and The Derma Co., has bucked the slowdown. Its volume growth, he underlined, is in double digits, ahead of value growth — a healthier sign of more households buying into its portfolio. He expects this trend to hold steady for the remaining three quarters of FY26.

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Delhi Milk Scheme Pours Fresh Energy into NCR Dairy Market with Cow Milk Launch, 22 New Booths, and 1,100+ Outlets

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Delhi Milk Scheme Pours Fresh Energy into NCR Dairy Market with Cow Milk Launch, 22 New Booths, and 1,100+ Outlets

The Union government has widened the reach of its flagship Delhi Milk Scheme (DMS) with the launch of cow milk products and a new line of co-branded offerings, in a move aimed at strengthening the capital’s dairy supply chain and giving consumers more choice.

The announcement follows a launch event on Wednesday, where senior officials from the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD) unveiled the additions to the DMS portfolio. For the first time, cow milk will be available at DMS booths and affiliated retail outlets across Delhi and the National Capital Region.

DAHD Secretary Alka Upadhyaya, addressing the gathering, credited the Delhi Milk Scheme and the Haryana Milk Federation for their collaboration on the new products. She said the expansion was designed to reinforce the dairy ecosystem by improving market access for rural producers while ensuring urban consumers get quality milk and value-added products.

The event also marked the formal distribution of 22 new booth allotment letters to selected applicants. According to officials, these booths will not only expand DMS’s retail footprint but also generate employment and create stronger linkages between dairy farmers and city buyers.

DAHD Additional Secretary Varsha Joshi highlighted that DMS remains a trusted name in Delhi-NCR’s dairy market and called the product expansion an important step in the scheme’s modernisation.

Established in 1959, DMS currently operates around 600 dedicated booths and nearly 500 other sales outlets. The latest product rollout and network expansion, officials said, underline the government’s intent to modernise operations, broaden market reach and raise consumer satisfaction in a sector that remains vital to both rural livelihoods and urban nutrition.

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TMRW House of Brands Secures ₹437 Crore from ServiceNow Ventures, Plots AI-Led Scale-Up for Gen-Z and Millennial Fashion

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TMRW House of Brands Secures ₹437 Crore from ServiceNow Ventures, Plots AI-Led Scale-Up for Gen-Z and Millennial Fashion

Aditya Birla Group’s digital-first fashion arm, TMRW – House of Brands, has secured a ₹437 crore investment from ServiceNow Ventures, marking one of the largest strategic bets in India’s brand aggregation space this year. The transaction, pending customary closing approvals, will channel advanced AI and automation into TMRW’s operations, aiming to sharpen consumer insights and boost operational efficiency across its portfolio.

Founded in 2022, TMRW has quickly built a multi-brand network that includes youth-focused names such as Bewakoof, Wrogn, The Indian Garage Co., and Nobero. Targeting Gen-Z and millennial shoppers, the company runs on an omni-channel model, blending e-commerce and offline retail to tap into India’s rapidly expanding fashion market.

The collaboration with ServiceNow will see the integration of AI-driven analytics, workflow automation, and predictive tools into TMRW’s supply chain and customer engagement processes. This is expected to enhance speed-to-market, personalize shopping experiences at scale, and strengthen brand positioning in a competitive landscape where agility is becoming a critical differentiator.

“ServiceNow’s investment reaffirms the strength of our technology backbone and sets the stage for our next phase of profitable growth,” said Prashanth Aluru, Co-founder and CEO of TMRW. “With this partnership, we can deepen our understanding of evolving consumer needs while streamlining operations across all our brands.”

For ServiceNow, this deal signals a deepening interest in India’s consumer and retail technology ecosystem, with fashion emerging as a high-growth segment for digital transformation. Industry watchers note that the infusion not only gives TMRW fresh capital to scale but also embeds it with advanced automation capabilities that could serve as a blueprint for other brand houses in emerging markets.

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Curefoods’ EatFit Enters ₹2,000-Cr Protein Market with 24g Whey + 1 Billion Probiotics in Every Scoop

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Curefoods’ EatFit Enters ₹2,000-Cr Protein Market with 24g Whey + 1 Billion Probiotics in Every Scoop

Bengaluru-based Curefoods has introduced a new entrant to India’s sports and wellness market under its EatFit brand: a Whey Protein + Probiotics blend aimed at delivering both muscle recovery and gut health in one scoop. The formulation combines 24 grams of premium whey protein per serving, sourced from a mix of isolate and concentrate, with one billion CFU of BC30™, a clinically studied probiotic strain.

BC30™, known for its spore-forming structure, is designed to survive heat, moisture, pH changes, and processing pressures, ensuring it reaches the gut intact. Once there, it supports a balanced microbiome, aids digestion, and strengthens immunity. The blend comes in two variants, Belgian Chocolate and Unflavored, and is sweetened naturally with monk fruit. It contains Instant Native Whey and no preservatives, aligning with the clean-label movement gaining traction among health-conscious consumers.

The product is positioned for both high-performance athletes and everyday fitness enthusiasts. “We see a growing generation that reads labels before they buy,” said Ankit Nagori, Chief Executive Officer at Curefoods. “This is about offering a protein formula that’s effective, transparent, and uncompromising on quality.”

Professional athlete Mayank Agarwal, who has partnered with EatFit on the launch, echoed this sentiment. “For me, nutrition has to be clean and functional. This fits perfectly into my regimen and works just as well for anyone beginning their fitness journey,” he said.

Designed to be adaptable, the product caters to a range of consumers—from gym-goers aiming for muscle gain to individuals looking to improve everyday wellness through better gut health.

EatFit’s Whey Protein + Probiotics is available in 1 kg packs for regular use and 35 g sachets for on-the-go convenience. It is now retailing on Amazon and Flipkart, tapping into India’s expanding online health and nutrition segment.

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Kimirica Bags $15M from Vikas Khemani’s Carnelian to Triple Revenue to ₹1,000 Cr, Eyes 70+ Country Push

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Kimirica Bags $15M from Vikas Khemani’s Carnelian to Triple Revenue to ₹1,000 Cr, Eyes 70+ Country Push

Kimirica, the Indore-based luxury beauty and hospitality products company, has secured about 15 million dollars in fresh funding from Carnelian Asset Management LLP, headed by market veteran Vikas Khemani. The capital will be used to accelerate growth, taking annual revenue from the current 300 crore rupees to 1,000 crore rupees within the next three to four years. The company will focus on strengthening its B2B hospitality arm, Kimirica Hunter, and expanding its direct-to-consumer vertical, Kimirica Lifestyle.

Founded in 2013 by Mohit Jain, Rajat Jain, Kimi Jain and Rica Jain, the company started by localising the manufacturing of hotel toiletries in a market that heavily depended on imports. At the time, about 90 percent of hotel amenities were sourced from China. Today, Kimirica exports to more than 70 countries and supplies over 10,000 luxury hotels and airlines, including marquee names like Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Accor, Leela and Air India.

Khemani described Kimirica as a rare combination of manufacturing strength and design-led brand building, calling it a business with clear vision and disciplined execution.

While its hospitality arm remains a core revenue driver, Kimirica has steadily expanded into consumer retail with vegan, cruelty-free and fair-trade-certified skincare, body care, fragrances, home wellness products and gifting lines. It is among the top performers on Nykaa, Amazon, Tira and several quick-commerce platforms. Its offline footprint is also growing, with over 10 new experiential stores planned across India and the Middle East.

A key part of its expansion is a 6 lakh square foot integrated manufacturing facility coming up in Indore, projected to be one of South Asia’s largest in its category. The plant will have the capacity to produce goods worth between 1,500 crore and 2,000 crore rupees annually, with an export focus on the United States, Middle East and Europe.

Co-founder Mohit Jain said the Carnelian partnership will help accelerate Kimirica’s omnichannel growth and bring its self-care products to more customers at greater speed

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Pronto Bags $11 Mn from General Catalyst, Glade Brook & Bain Capital; Plans 10,000 Worker Onboarding, ₹394 Cr Valuation in Just 4 Months

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Pronto Bags $11 Mn from General Catalyst, Glade Brook & Bain Capital; Plans 10,000 Worker Onboarding, ₹394 Cr Valuation in Just 4 Months

Pronto, the Gurugram-based home services platform, has secured 11 million dollars (about Rs 96 crore) in fresh funding, co-led by General Catalyst and Glade Brook Capital. Bain Capital Ventures also joined the round, which values the four-month-old startup at 45 million dollars (around Rs 394 crore).

Founded in April 2025 by Anjali Sardana, Pronto links households with trained professionals for tasks ranging from cleaning and laundry to utensil washing and basic meal prep. The company says its shift-based operations enable fulfilment in as little as ten minutes, while ensuring workers get guaranteed shifts and better pay. Unlike the hourly pricing followed by traditional players, Pronto charges customers per task, with average orders between Rs 200 and Rs 300.

The funding will help onboard and train 10,000 more professionals, build quality-assurance systems, and roll out real-time operations tech. Expansion plans over the next year include Mumbai, Bengaluru and other major metros, with micro-hubs in residential clusters to speed up response times.

Originally incorporated in Delaware, Pronto recently shifted its base to India. “We decided to flip the company back before closing the round to avoid the capital gains implications of moving it later,” Sardana told ET.

While the model addresses common pain points such as unpredictable worker availability and trust gaps, Sardana admits scaling fast has its costs. “Often, expansion means oversupplying at first. That and marketing spend can add up quickly,” she said.

The quick home services space is seeing growing investor interest. In May, Mumbai’s Snabbit raised 19 million dollars from Lightspeed for its own expansion plans. For Pronto, the challenge will be generating steady demand to match its growing supply of workers, ensuring utilisation stays high in a category marked by low-ticket, high-frequency orders.

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