Chai Point gets $20 million fresh funds from Paragon Partners-led investors

BENGALURU: Chai Point, a chain of tea and snacks stores, said it had raised a $20 million in a series C funding round led by Paragon Partners.

All existing investors - Eight Roads, Saama Capital and DSG – participated in this round.

Amuleek Singh Bijral, co-founder and CEO of Chai Point, said this funding round was primarily aimed at further strengthening the brand’s multi-channel go-to-market. He said a substantial portion of the investment proceeds would go towards deepening sales, marketing, and service operations for the company's automated hot beverage dispensing business - boxC.in - `which is the next growth driver for the business.'

“We are using technology to enhance the customer experience, and are recommitting to strengthen our efforts towards environmental sustainability,” said Tarun Khanna, co-Founder of Chai Point and the Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at the Harvard Business School, in a statement.

Chai Point said it was India’s largest organised brand in the ₹ 1.5 lakh crore 'chai' market targeting one billion Indians. With the average per capita consumption of the beverage increasing at a steady rate of 20%-30%, it said the market was ever expanding.

The company said it delighted its customers with 0.3 million cups of 'chai' a day across all its channels – stores, delivery and dispensers.

“We are bullish on the consumption story in India,” said Siddharth Parekh, co-founder and senior partner, Paragon Partners.