Bengaluru-based new-age beverage startup Swizzle – pioneering provider of Made-in-India mocktails crafted entirely with natural ingredients – has announced raising an undisclosed amount in seed funding from multiple angel investors. The recently-concluded equity-based seed investment round was led by Swizzle’s existing investor Mrs. Monika Rao, and witnessed participation from another prior investor Dr. Akshay Singhal, Founder & CEO, of Log9 Materials; while the new investors of this round include Mr. Deepak Gambhir and Sri Harsha Thota. Swizzle had, back in 2022, raised its first funding round, the proceeds from which has been spent by the startup towards product development and obtaining product-market fit. Till date, the startup has raised cumulative funding of over INR 1 Cr.
The newly acquired seed capital shall enable Swizzle to promote its exciting new range of premium canned mocktails on a grand scale in the near future. Moreover, the startup plans to use the funds towards team building (hiring skilled and talented people across sales, distribution, marketing, and other roles), inventory enhancement (building up more inventory to increase in-store product availability and meet surging demand), quality control (maintenance of premium, high-level standards across the production value chain), and expansion of its distribution network (optimizing logistics, partnerships, and systems in order to ensure smooth and widespread availability of Swizzle mocktails, especially on the retail side). Additionally, a significant portion of these funds shall also be allocated towards marketing and brand-building initiatives such as online and offline campaigns, pop-ups and events, branded packaging and collateral creation, and so on, with the end-goal of increasing brand awareness and reaching a wider potential user base.
Speaking about the fundraise, Vrinda Singhal and Deepender Singh, Co-Founders of Swizzle said, “We are super excited to announce our latest seed fundraise, which marks a pivotal milestone in Swizzle’s journey, and catalyses our mission of revolutionizing the beverage industry in India. It allows us to introduce our line-up of refreshing mocktail products to a wide audience across both the B2C and B2B segments, and establish a strong presence across retail locations. By August 2024, we aim to be accessible in more than 1000 locations and plan to extend our reach to several new cities across the nation, thus bolstering our distribution network. And the latest funds raised shall play an instrumental role in achieving this goal through implementing effective marketing and go-to-market strategies, thereby propelling us forward to experience accelerated growth in the years to come, and helping us become the preferred choice for more and more beverage enthusiasts across India.”
Ms. Monika Rao, Lead Investor in Swizzle says– “Swizzle has demonstrated a unique ability to innovate and bring to market a range of high quality mixers. Their revamped hip and cool branding and packaging will help them scale and acquire the upwardly mobile young customer base across Tier 1 cities. This category is still young and favours ready to consume innovative products. Swizzle is placed uniquely to capture this market segment”.
Having cracked the perfect formula for creating tasty natural beverages made with real fruits and herbs, Swizzle offers ready-to-drink (RTD) mocktails available in different flavors, that are 100% vegan and artificial ingredients-free. The startup, which achieved an impressive 210% growth during FY 2023 as compared to the previous fiscal, is now on track towards hitting its projected revenue of Rs 15 Crore by the end of FY 2025. Besides selling to customers directly (D2C mode) through its own website, Swizzle is currently available on prominent e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, JioMart, Flipkart, and Swiggy-Mini, and has plans to partner with express delivery platforms like Instamart and Blinkit to ensure convenience for its customers.
Whereas on the retail front, Swizzle’s flagship mocktails have already grown immensely popular and marked presence in more than 350 locations across Bengaluru, including numerous vending machines, Nature Basket stores, MRP outlets, and supermarkets. Looking ahead, Swizzle plans to furthermore expand its offline retail presence rapidly and be available in 3000+ locations by the end of the current financial year, while serving up to 5 lakh mocktails per month. Alongside, Swizzle will be looking to venture into Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, and Chennai, among other cities, and shall be tapping into the HoReCa (Hotels, Restaurants, and Catering) and QSRs (Quick Service Restaurants) segments in a major way.
