Consumer Foods Brand “Yu” raises Rs 55 Crs in Series B round

Yu, an omni-channel consumer brand that provides a range of instant food and beverage products using 100% Natural Ingredients has secured its Series B funding. The round was led by renowned public market investor Ashish Kacholia and Asian Paints Promoter Group (Manish Choksi, Varun Vakil). As part of this round, the Company has also provided an exit to some of its seed stage investors who have realised over 4x return on their investment. This Series B funding comes at a key inflection point for Yu as it looks to ramp up distribution and strengthen its food portfolio while also expanding its beverage range with its newly launched 100% fruit juices 

Founded by Bharat Bhalla and Varun Kapur, Yu is hand-crafting a healthier future with its 100% natural packaged foods & beverages. The brand started with instant cup noodles and pastas in 2021 and has since expanded to ready-to-cook noodles, pastas, as well as natural beverages – containing ZERO concentrate or added sugar. Apart from gaining significant market share in the cup noodles category, Yu is now a leader in hakka noodles across all online channels (E-com and Q-com). Some of Yu’s products like its 100% Whole Wheat Noodles and 100% Coconut Water have already achieved break-out sales on several distribution platforms on the back of volumes higher than those of incumbent brands. This is owing to Yu’s DNA of providing better for you products using 100% Natural Ingredients with No Compromise on Taste, at Affordable Price Points.

Yu has developed an omni-channel distribution network with offline presence in over 7,500 stores across India. The brand is available pan-India on all Q-com (Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto) and E-com channels (Amazon, Flipkart Grocery, Dmart Ready) as well as institutional segments (Akasa Air, SpiceJet). Yu has also developed South Africa as a key market where its products are now sold across 2,000+ retail outlets. The brand is witnessing significant business traction having sold more than 1 million units in the month of September 2024. Yu operates from a 30,000 sq. ft. integrated facility in Gurugram that is UK FSSC 22000 and US-FDA certified with its second facility already in the works. The brand has expanded its team to over 200 employees.

Sharing their excitement, Founders Bharat Bhalla and Varun Kapur jointly expressed, “It is extremely motivating to have raised significant growth capital that too from highly eminent investors. We greatly appreciate their support. Version 2.0 for Yu is now officially underway with the launch of 100% fruit juices – our second product category after instant foods. From our current annualized revenue run rate of Rs 50 Crs, the Series B growth capital should allow us to grow revenues 3x over the next 2 years. This will include enhanced distribution penetration, new product launches and further category expansion. Using fundamental research and constant innovation, Yu would like to remain at the forefront of the “better for you” consumer foods revolution in India and overseas