Devendra Agrawal
Founder & CEO, Dexter Capital Advisors“Online Delivery has been dominated by Swiggy & Zomato in the last few years and they have created a duopoly in the category. Hence we do not see too many players entering this segment. India is a vertically integrated market & some other players like Cab Aggregators have tried to enter the space but have not been able to dent the marketQuick Commerce is the newest area of interest for the VCsPEs where 15-30min grocery delivery is being piloted by the likes of Grofers. Globally this space hasattracted a large amount of VC investment where companies like Getir Gorillas etc have raisedcapitalDisruption in the Food space has been done by a few D2C brands focusing on niche categories like Health Supplements Coffee Ice Creams etc. VC investments will continue to be driven by innovative brands who can create a strong supply chain moat. However FMCG food as a category will always remain an omni channel play as food inherently is an impulse & a basket purchase category.Convenience - Indian consumers will pre-orderorder more in the house to save timeQ (Quick) Commerce - Indian consumers are known to order from the local Kirana stores. If either of the Food tech players solve the supply chain on the last mile delivery this will create a strong MOAT & lead to highercapitalraiseNiche Categories - Rise of online consumption has led to a differentiated buying behavior whereby consumers are prone to more experimentation. hence leading to a creation of new age brands in the Health Supplements Coffee & Ice Cream space”
Padmaja Ruparel
Co-Founder, IAN“The second wave of the Covid-19 has disrupted businesses across the globe. While some of the effects are short-term many will leave a long-lasting impact. However it has not stopped Venture Capital and private equity firms from cherry-picking opportunities and investing funds in Indian businesses endorsing the strength of the Indian entrepreneurial startups and businesses. .Between January to August this year private-held companies including startups have raised a whopping 28.35 billion of funding spread across 1367 deals according to Tracxn.Further COVID 19 did tweaked the investment interest for VCs investment in India. It created multifarious opportunities leveraging technology and digitization. Hence home delivery marketplace platforms and online shopping e-commerce have been attracting investments. Interest in staples & essentials like delivery of fresh foods groceries medicines etc. have grown significantly along with entertainment like online gaming and OTT. And this is only expected to increase with in the AIML deeptech space bringing in deeper insights through data analytics and geo tagging.India has seen innovation and growth across a number of companies which have gone on to attract funding including some of them emerging as Unicorns. Udaan Lenskart Zomato Swiggy PharmEasy Meesho Pine Labs Zeta Cred RazorPay HealthifyMe BYJUs Unacademy Eruditus Vedantu Dunzo Bira91 Boat Mamaearth MyGlamm Uniphore Software Systems Yellow.ai Entropik and many others.New markets are growing quickly far faster than existing ones and this rising tide can lift all boats. Some business-to-consumer (B2C) industries like edtech food delivery and e-commerce have seen a significant acceleration covering their projected growth over two-three years covered in a year Hence players in these segments have been raising capital to scale up even faster. The pandemic has changed how companies provide a taste of their products to shoppers a valuable practice that can boost long-term sales for a brand. Globally venture funding is heavily skewed toward late-stage online grocery deals followed by startups offering food-delivery apps and marketplaces such as Swiggy and GoJek. Some investors have realized that food tech is not just recession-proof but it is also black swan proof. Information on consumer shopping behaviors and new data capabilities has set the groundwork for a generation of food tech companies that can use data to predict consumer trends reduce food waste in production facilities and help consumers find products.The taste of consumers has wholly changed these days. With awareness towards healthy living increasing they are particular about what they want to eat. They are juggling hectic work and personal lives and demand convenience when it comes to their meals. But this convenience cannot come at the expense of quality. Now more than ever people want to know whats in their food where it comes from and how its production and sourcing impacts the environment.Spending trends show that consumers are willing to pay a premium for food tech innovations that can meet their ever-increasing needs of convenience health and low environmental impact. The opportunity for food innovators to capitalize on this market demand is growing. New business models emerged packed and frozen foods emerged rapidly even from dine-in kiosked food. Packaging itself innovated to ensure to retain the quality freshness and hygiene of food. All in all investments in food tech will continue to increase to help deliver on the promise of healthier and more sustainable food systems.”
