Mouth-watering startup attracts South Indian angels with Tamil treats

Tamil Nadu has an ancient culture that is reflected in its variety of traditional foods. Most outsiders only associate Tamil food with the distinct sambar of lentils and vegetables laced with tamarind.

But for someone like me, who has lived there, there are a lot more mouth-watering prospects than sambar, thair sadam, or Chettinad chicken. Every region of Tamil Nadu, in fact, has its specialties. I grew up munching on murukku – a crunchy snack – and Tirunelveli halwa, a sweet recommended to anybody who visits touristy spots in Tirunelveli district.

You may find versions of these delicacies in Indian cities but they are nothing like the local ones. Now there’s an online avenue to these goodies sourced from local vendors in Tamil Nadu – foodtech startup NativeSpecial.

NativeSpecial has an online portal to distribute traditional snacks and sweets from the region. It has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from the Indian Angel Network and Tamil Nadu-based Native Angels Network.

It provides hard-to-find delicacies like Srivilliputhur palkova, Pudupalayam Ragi murukku, and Nagercoil Nendran chips to Tamilians scattered across the country. Even the Tirunelveli halwa – a sticky concoction of wheat, sugar, cardamom powder, ghee (clarified butter), and water – finds its place in the portal. There are halwas of different kinds all over India, but this one derives its unique taste from the Thamirabharani river water – or so they say.

NativeSpecial is looking to expand beyond Indian shores with the funding. “The company senses a huge market potential among South Indians in the US where we had a trial festival sale,” says founder and CEO Baskaran Veluchamy.
The tier-3 city startup based in Karur, Tamil Nadu, has 42 products and 20 vendors on the portal as of now.

This is an excerpt from Tech in Asia. You can read the full article here.