walko funding: Jungle Ventures invests $20 million more in ice cream maker Walko in larger trend
Jungle Ventures on Tuesday said it invested $20 million in Walko Food, an ice-cream brand and quick-service restaurant company. The investment is in line with a broader trend that the food-linked startup ecosystem is witnessing.
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The Singapore-based venture capital firm is focussed on companies in the early growth stage in India and Southeast Asia. This is its second investment in Walko Food in less than 12 months.
Investors focussed on the consumer and retail sector said the market is currently prime for businesses focussed on quick capital efficiencies and centralised infrastructure in distribution.
In numbers, while venture capital deployments in the broader food brand space have been on the decline through 2022 to 2023, deal density has seen a steady rise.
The first month of 2024 has seen strong deal activity. As per Venture Intelligence data, the sector attracted $97 million across seven venture capital deals in January. This translates to about $14 million per deal on an average.
Startups with food brands such as Country Delight, The Baker’s Dozen, Wow! Momo Foods and Slurrp Farm raised sizable growth-stage fundings during the month.
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In 2023, a total of 30 startups had raised $218 million, equating to $7 million per deal.In 2019, food brands raised an average of about $6 million per deal, which increased to $8 million in 2020 and $10 million in 2021, before falling to $9 million in 2022 and $7 million in 2023.
The food brands sector here include funded-upstarts in the sub-spaces of beverages, cafes, food ingredients, food processing, ice creams, packaged foods, processed foods, restaurants and vending machine operators.
Manu Chandra, founder of early-stage consumer-focused venture capital firm Sauce.vc, told ET that investors are currently eyeing a massive opportunity in the food brands space with companies that have taken a retail route similar to traditional consumer goods firms.
The firm’s recent investments included Hokko Ice Cream in October and packaged foods startup FoodKraft in December.
“Investors in food brands are increasingly looking at traditional and classic distribution channels of growing food brands. These are more capital efficient, and stably able to build distribution over a period and make for very clear exit routes in the future,” Chandra said.
Arpit Beri, partner – India Investments at Jungle Ventures, who led the investment at Walko, said the capital required to set up food businesses that require multiple kitchens with chefs and infrastructure is significantly more than in those where centralised dark stores can store the food.
“If you are running your own kitchen in this space, that would require 10x the capex required in setting up a local warehouse as a food brand. That is why we like the FMCG kind of a nature in the food and beverages sector,” he told ET.
Founded in 2012, Walko Food’s top grossing brands are NIC and Grameen Kulfi. It lists products on platforms such as Swiggy, Zomato, Zepto and Bigbasket. It also has a comparatively smaller offline presence through modern trade and ice-cream parlours.
Since its last funding round with Jungle Ventures in May 2023, Walko Food has introduced Yummo, an ice-cream brand created for the Indian mass retail market, tapping into a $3 billion opportunity, the company said.
“The capital raised will help to expand Walko’s operational capacity, enrich our product offerings, and diversify with the mass-market ice-cream brand – Yummo,” Sanjiv Shah, director, Walko Food Company, said in a statement.
Jungle Ventures on Tuesday said it invested $20 million in Walko Food, an ice-cream brand and quick-service restaurant company. The investment is in line with a broader trend that the food-linked startup ecosystem is witnessing.
![]()
The Singapore-based venture capital firm is focussed on companies in the early growth stage in India and Southeast Asia. This is its second investment in Walko Food in less than 12 months.
Investors focussed on the consumer and retail sector said the market is currently prime for businesses focussed on quick capital efficiencies and centralised infrastructure in distribution.
In numbers, while venture capital deployments in the broader food brand space have been on the decline through 2022 to 2023, deal density has seen a steady rise.
The first month of 2024 has seen strong deal activity. As per Venture Intelligence data, the sector attracted $97 million across seven venture capital deals in January. This translates to about $14 million per deal on an average.
Startups with food brands such as Country Delight, The Baker’s Dozen, Wow! Momo Foods and Slurrp Farm raised sizable growth-stage fundings during the month.
Discover the stories of your interest
In 2023, a total of 30 startups had raised $218 million, equating to $7 million per deal.In 2019, food brands raised an average of about $6 million per deal, which increased to $8 million in 2020 and $10 million in 2021, before falling to $9 million in 2022 and $7 million in 2023.
The food brands sector here include funded-upstarts in the sub-spaces of beverages, cafes, food ingredients, food processing, ice creams, packaged foods, processed foods, restaurants and vending machine operators.
Manu Chandra, founder of early-stage consumer-focused venture capital firm Sauce.vc, told ET that investors are currently eyeing a massive opportunity in the food brands space with companies that have taken a retail route similar to traditional consumer goods firms.
The firm’s recent investments included Hokko Ice Cream in October and packaged foods startup FoodKraft in December.
“Investors in food brands are increasingly looking at traditional and classic distribution channels of growing food brands. These are more capital efficient, and stably able to build distribution over a period and make for very clear exit routes in the future,” Chandra said.
Arpit Beri, partner – India Investments at Jungle Ventures, who led the investment at Walko, said the capital required to set up food businesses that require multiple kitchens with chefs and infrastructure is significantly more than in those where centralised dark stores can store the food.
“If you are running your own kitchen in this space, that would require 10x the capex required in setting up a local warehouse as a food brand. That is why we like the FMCG kind of a nature in the food and beverages sector,” he told ET.
Founded in 2012, Walko Food’s top grossing brands are NIC and Grameen Kulfi. It lists products on platforms such as Swiggy, Zomato, Zepto and Bigbasket. It also has a comparatively smaller offline presence through modern trade and ice-cream parlours.
Since its last funding round with Jungle Ventures in May 2023, Walko Food has introduced Yummo, an ice-cream brand created for the Indian mass retail market, tapping into a $3 billion opportunity, the company said.
“The capital raised will help to expand Walko’s operational capacity, enrich our product offerings, and diversify with the mass-market ice-cream brand – Yummo,” Sanjiv Shah, director, Walko Food Company, said in a statement.
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