Aavishkaar invests in Sri Lanka's food processing firm

Aavishkaar, a social venture capital firm, has invested 300 million Sri Lankan rupees (LKR) (about Rs.1.38 crore) in Ma's Foods, a premium food processing company in Sri Lanka.

The investment will enable MA's Foods to accelerate growth by expanding into the northern part of Sri Lanka.

"In the coming months, we will continue with our vision of being an inseparable part of every kitchen while crafting tasteful moments for families around the world," Maliek De Alwis, CEO of Ma's Foods, said.

Founded in 1986 by husband and wife Mario and Suzette De Alwis, MA's Foods is the manufacturer of some of Sri Lanka's most popular brands in the food processing sector including MA's Kitchen, Happy Home, Dad's Garden and Pasta Roma. It markets organic and conventional gourmet meal solutions including spices, seasonings, curry pastes, sauces, ready-to-eat foods and coconut based products.

"MA's has tremendous potential to scale up its business with its combination of excellent management team, established local brands, longstanding international relationships and significant backward linkages", said Sanchayan Chakraborty, partner at Aavishkaar.

For Aavishkaar, this is the second investment from its Aavishkaar Frontier Fund (AFF), a regional fund which invests in early stage venture capital investments in enterprises working with the low income population in rural and under-served markets of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Pakistan.