Bengaluru based YCook, a ready-to-cook processed package food startup raises $5 million (about ₹33.7 crore) in a Series B funding. The current funding round saw participation from Binny Bansal led venture capital firm 021 Capital, Oikocredit. The existing investor Omnivore also participated in this round.
The food company will use this funding to acquire certifications, improve facilities and marketing.
The company launches a food product known as Ta-daa with the aim to revolutionize cooking and encourage more people to eat healthy, wholesome, home-cooked meals. The product sells across most of the retail stores like Reliance Retail, Big Bazaar, and Nature’s Basket and online ecommerce platform Amazon, Flipkart, Bigbasket etc..
Founded in 2013 by Janardhan Swahar, Vijay Reddy and Gayathri Swahar, invests in soil testing for every farmer who wants to partner with the firm. It has 1,300 active partner farmers across Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. The complete cycle process of the company’s product is here.
The CEO and founder of YCook Janardhan Linga Swahar said, “About 30% of our business export to other countries and remaining 70% is through supermarkets and a few retail stores. Geographically, 40% of my business comes from north India and 15-20% from other parts of India. Around 75% of the business is corn”.
He added, “The 1,200 farmers across the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, harvest prime produce from over 3,000 acres of farmland on a contract farming.
According to the company, “At Y-Cook Quality is not a choice but the way of working. We have a strict inspection process in place everywhere we source our vegetables to make sure that all our products live up to our high quality standard. From farm to fork, we oversee every step to maintain quality…all the way”.
We ensure no pesticide residue in our produce. We have, in collaboration with our farmers, created standard operating procedures for harvesting and transportation.