Teabox raises $5 million in new funding round led by Dubai-based NB Ventures
Premium tea brand Teabox has raised an undisclosed sum in fresh funding, led by Dubai-based NB Ventures, the Siliguri and Bengaluru-based company announced on Thursday.
While the company did not disclose the exact sum, sources briefed on the matter said that the seven-year-old venture had raised about $5 million in its latest round of funding, and which comes about 19 months after it announced a $7 million Series B equity financing round in December 2017.
“Having sold 1 billion cups of tea in 117 countries, we are even more upbeat about the opportunities in front of us across the globe and are looking to build our expertise accordingly. This funding has capacitated us to raise a significant amount for our future growth prospects,” Kausshal Dugarr, chief executive of Teabox, said in a prepared statement.
Additionally, the company also stated that its existing investors had also participated in the latest funding round. Teaxbox counts the likes of marquee venture capital firm Accel Partners, Singapore-based RB Investments and Ratan Tata among its list of backers. Prior to this round, it was reported to have raised about $10 million in funding.
NB Ventures is an early-stage investment firm founded by Neelesh Bhatnagar, focusing on health and beauty, education, FMCG logistics and sustainability sectors’ among others. Bhatnagar had previously served as the chief executive of leading retail and hospitality group Landmark Group in the Middle East.
“We are very excited about investing in Teabox as the tea industry is a huge market and Teabox is a leading player with complete vertical integration. We believe in their vision of creating an omni-channel experience given the existing international appeal of their high quality products and look forward to assisting them in their expansion plan leveraging our strong experience and connects,” Bhatnagar said.
Teabox, which claims to ship to 117 countries, including United States, India and Russia, sources tea from more than 200 plantations, according to the press release. It has opened its offline experience store at the Mumbai and Bengaluru international airports, and plans to open 3-5 more stores over the course of the next few months.
According to the official statement, the company, for which the largest market is the US, claims to source only the first loose leaf teas across India and Nepal, which are then packaged at its cold storage facility in Siliguri, West Bengal, and say it ships to customers within 48 hours of production.
The company retails through its own website, as well through the country’s leading online retail platforms, including, Flipkart and Amazon.
