Instant Food Brand 'Yu' raises Series A Funding led by Ashish Kacholia

Yu, an omni-channel consumer foods brand that provides Instant Meals that are 100% Natural with ZERO Preservatives, has secured its Series A funding vide a mix of equity and venture debt.

The round was led by Ashish Kacholia – renowned public market investor and saw participation from existing investors – Asian Paints Promoter Group (Manish Choksi and Varun Vakil).

With Rs 20 crores under its belt, Yu is all set to double its capacity in addition to ramping up its existing offline / online distribution in India, while continuing to expand its global footprint across markets like Africa, Middle East and the US.

“It has been truly heartening and motivating to receive a tangible vote of confidence from a diverse and highly eminent set of investors within 1 year of the launch of our business. Their pedigree and experience will allow Yu to increase its production capacity to over 8 million meal bowls per annum while expanding our offline / online distribution in India. The next 12 months will also see us aggressively expanding our presence in global markets like the US, Africa and Middle East,” shared Founders Bharat Bhalla and Varun Kapur.

Founded by Bharat Bhalla and Varun Kapur, Yu has developed a wide range 15 unique products across noodles, pastas, oats, halwa categories that can be prepared in 4-5 minutes by simply adding hot water.

The current round of funding also saw participation from DPIITs Start Up India Seed Fund scheme which approved Yu under its Rs 945 crores program that funds tech-enabled start-ups.