Milk Mantra raises USD 10mn to expand operation in east India

Odisha-based dairy firm Milk Mantra has raised USD 10 million in the latest round of funding led by SBI-backed Neev Fund, along with existing investors Eight Roads Ventures and Aavishkaar.
The fund would be utilised for the company's growth plans that include expanding production capacity through setting up of new plants and acquisitions.
"It's part of larger funding as per the company's growth plans. We want to become a leading dairy firm of eastern India. In the first phase, we have raised USD 10 million," Milk Mantra Dairy's founder, MD and CEO Srikumar Misra told PTI.
With this round of funding, he said the company has raised about Rs 165-170 crore.

The company expects its turnover to increase at Rs 170-80 crore in this fiscal from about Rs 125 crore during 2015-16.
Misra said the company is focusing on four states -- Odisha, Jahrkand, West Bengal and Chhatisgarh -- for expansion of its business. It is also focusing on product innovations.

"We have two dairy plants in Odisha with processing capacity of 3.5 lakh litres per day," he said, adding that the company manufactures various dairy products at third-party facility in Kolkata.
On acquisition, Misra said: "We are in active discussion. It will take 3-6 months in this process".
Milk Mantra has successfully raised capital from a string of reputed investors - Aavishkaar backed the company in 2012, followed by Eight Roads in 2014 and now Neev Fund in 2016.

As a part of this round, Ambalika Banerjee from Neev Fund and Dhyanesh Shah from Eight Roads will join the board of Milk Mantra, in addition to existing directors Noshir Colah from Aavishkaar and Kabir Narang from Eight Roads, and Independent Director Suresh Senapaty, ex CFO Wipro.
"Getting a committed investor like Neev along with the continued support of Eight Roads and Aavishkaar endorses Milk Mantra's growth potential and strategy of focused functional innovation in creating an exciting brand whilst building our milk sourcing network. With this Series-D raise, the company is well poised to expand further in its core markets," Misra said.

Apart from fresh milk, the company produces a range of dairy products including probiotic dahi, paneer, mishti dahi, lassi, curcumin-based milk-shakes etc under the 'Milky Moo' brand. The company procures milk from a network of more than 43,000 farmers covering more than 800 villages.