Licious is a Bengaluru-based Indian direct-to-consumer brand that sells fresh meat and seafood online and through its own stores.

This Startup Deep Dive explains what Licious does, how it makes money, who backs it, how it compares with rivals and what could go wrong, using publicly available information. It is educational and not investment advice. Last updated: October 2026.

Licious in Brief

• What it is: Licious is an Indian D2C meat and seafood company based in Bengaluru.
• Who it serves: online shoppers, retail customers, marketplaces and distribution partners.
• Sells fresh and marinated meat and seafood to consumers.
• Serves over 1.2 million monthly customers across 20 cities.
• Online sales are more than 85% of revenue.
• Funding: Reports differ: about $488 million to $554 million.

Licious Quick Facts

Figures marked “reported” come from published reports and may differ between sources; “Not disclosed” means no reliable public figure was found.

What Is Licious?

Licious operates in the D2C meat and seafood space in India. Understanding a company like this starts with three questions: who is the customer, what painful problem is being solved, and why the solution is better than the alternatives. The sections below apply that lens to Licious.

• Sells fresh and marinated meat and seafood to consumers.
• Serves over 1.2 million monthly customers across 20 cities.
• Online sales are more than 85% of revenue.
• Runs over 50 retail outlets, including the My Chicken and More chain acquired in February FY25.
• Quick-delivery service Licious Flash serves about 60% of online customers.

The Origin Story of Licious

Every company starts from a noticed gap and a team willing to commit to closing it. Strong origin stories are specific: a clear problem, a founding team with relevant skills, and an early product that real customers could test. Founder-market fit, meaning the team’s lived experience or technical depth in the domain, tends to predict how fast a young company learns.

• Founders: Abhay Hanjura, Vivek Gupta.
• Founded in 2015 by Abhay Hanjura and Vivek Gupta; month differs by source (July to September 2015), with launch reported in October 2015.
• Hanjura earlier worked at Futurisk Insurance and Gupta at Helion Ventures.
• Built a farm-to-fork model with its own processing and cold chain.

Key Milestones and Challenges

No startup grows in a straight line. Early years usually involve slow adoption, product rewrites, hiring mistakes and funding gaps. In the D2C meat and seafood sector the common turning points are a first paying customer, a regulatory approval, a successful product demonstration or a funding round that lets the team invest ahead of demand. How a team responds to setbacks says more about resilience than any single headline.

• 2015: founded and launched in Bengaluru.
• April 2016: Series A of $3 million.
• September 2018: Series C of $25 million.
• December 2019: Series E of $30 million.
• July 2021: Series F of $192 million led by Temasek and Multiples at about $650 million valuation (reported).
• October 2021: $52 million at about $1.05 billion valuation, turning it into a unicorn.
• March 2022: $150 million round led by Kotak PE, Amansa Capital and Axis Growth Avenues.
• FY25: acquired My Chicken and More retail chain.

Licious Funding and Investors

Funding history shows how much outside confidence a company has attracted and how long it can operate before needing more capital. Figures below are reported and may differ between sources; valuation figures are estimates unless the company has confirmed them.

• April 2016: Series A, $3 million.
• March 2017: Series B, $10 million.
• September 2018: Series C, $25 million.
• December 2018: Series D, $25 million (Nichirei reported among investors).
• December 2019: Series E, $30 million.
• June 2021: $65 million.
• July 2021: $192 million led by Temasek and Multiples.
• October 2021: $52 million led by IIFL Late Stage Tech Fund and Avendus.
• March 2022: $150 million led by Kotak PE, Amansa Capital and Axis Growth Avenues.

How Does Licious Make Money? (Business Model)

A business model describes who pays, how often and how much it costs to serve them. Strong models show repeat usage, improving margins with scale and acquisition channels that do not depend only on paid spend. Weak models show one-off sales, rising costs and growth that stops when spending stops. For companies selling to online shoppers, retail customers, marketplaces and distribution partners, sales cycles and contract size matter as much as headline growth.

• Direct-to-consumer: sources from farms and fisheries, processes and delivers itself.
• Sells through its app and website, plus a growing offline store chain.
• Piloting and scaling 30-minute and quick deliveries.
• Margins depend on cold-chain efficiency and repeat customers.

The Numbers: Licious Financials

Financial figures show whether growth is turning into a self-sustaining business. Small and private companies often disclose little, so any number below is included only if it was found in public reporting.

• FY24: operating revenue about Rs 687 crore (reports differ Rs 685-749 crore), down about 9%; consolidated net loss about Rs 294.5-298.6 crore; EBITDA loss Rs 296 crore.
• FY25: operating revenue about Rs 795-797 crore (up 16%); total income Rs 844.6 crore; consolidated net loss Rs 218.3 crore (down 27%); EBITDA loss Rs 163 crore (down 45%); expenses about Rs 1,060 crore.
• H1 FY26: revenue about Rs 530 crore, up 42% year on year.

Market Opportunity for Licious

Market size is easy to exaggerate, so a useful approach separates the total market from the portion a company can realistically reach with its current product and distribution. The main forces behind demand in this sector are rising internet and smartphone use, growing online retail, digital payments, quick commerce and a younger consumer base that is open to new brands. Each of these widens the opportunity, but capital efficiency and execution decide who captures it.

• Online fresh meat and seafood is competitive, with specialist brands and quick-commerce platforms entering.
• Quick-commerce player Zepto entered meat in October 2023.

Technology and Product at Licious

Technology is rarely the whole moat, but it drives speed, cost and customer experience. A practical way to assess it is to separate the capability the company controls from the commodity infrastructure it rents. In this sector the important factors are supply-chain reliability, brand trust, product quality, data on customer behaviour and the efficiency of fulfilment.

• Own cold chain from sourcing to delivery.
• App-led ordering with fast-delivery operations.

Team and Culture at Licious

Teams are the most important and least measurable asset of a young company. Look at how complementary the founders’ skills are, how deep the second layer of leadership is, and how the company hires and retains specialists. Culture shows up in small repeated behaviours: how quickly bad news travels upward and whether commitments to customers are kept.

• Co-founders Abhay Hanjura and Vivek Gupta.
• Mayfield India holds the largest stake at 14.69% (as reported).

Licious Competitors: Competitive Landscape

A fair competitive analysis names direct rivals, adjacent players who could move into the space, and the customer’s default alternative. Durable advantages include proprietary data or technology, licences and approvals, brand trust, switching costs and cost leadership.

Risks and Challenges for Licious

• Still loss-making with an EBITDA loss of Rs 163 crore in FY25.
• FY24 revenue fell about 9% in an operational reset.
• Competition from quick-commerce platforms and other meat brands.
• Valuation of $1.46 billion dates from 2022.
• Competition: low barriers to entry and large marketplaces make it hard for a brand to stay differentiated.
• Customer acquisition cost: paid marketing can become expensive and erode margins as a brand scales.

Risk is not a reason to avoid a company; it is a reason to price it correctly and to monitor the right indicators over time. Regulation in this sector is shaped by consumer protection rules, FSSAI and BIS standards where relevant, the Legal Metrology rules and e-commerce regulations.

Licious Growth Outlook: What to Watch

• Revenue growth re-accelerated in H1 FY26 (up 42%).
• Plans 80-100 stores by FY26 (stated target).
• Losses are narrowing.
• Key indicators: repeat purchase rate, average order value, gross margin, contribution margin and customer acquisition cost.
• Funding position: Whether Licious can reach its next milestone before needing new capital.
• Regulation: Changes from consumer protection rules, FSSAI and BIS standards where relevant, the Legal Metrology rules and e-commerce regulations.

Industry Context: Where Licious Fits

India's consumer market is large, young and increasingly online. Rising smartphone and internet use, digital payments and faster delivery have helped direct-to-consumer brands, marketplaces and quick-commerce platforms reach customers who once relied on local shops. Established companies, marketplaces and new brands now compete for the same shoppers.

Success in consumer businesses usually depends on a clear brand promise, repeat customers and healthy unit economics, not on sales volume alone. Companies that control quality, understand customer needs and manage marketing costs tend to build more durable brands than those that grow mainly by discounting.

For readers new to this field, a useful habit is to separate announcements from evidence. A plan, a partnership or a funding headline describes intent, while a delivered product, a paying customer or an audited financial statement describes results. Comparing the two over time shows how reliably a company turns promises into outcomes.

Bull Case and Bear Case for Licious

An investment thesis is a short, testable statement of why a company could become far more valuable, together with what evidence would prove it wrong. The points below are general to this sector and are not forecasts for Licious.

Bull case

• A growing base of online shoppers expands the potential market.
• Strong brands can earn repeat purchases and pricing power.
• Distribution through marketplaces, quick commerce and stores widens reach.

Bear case

• Heavy competition and discounting can hurt margins.
• Rising marketing costs can slow profitable growth.
• Supply-chain or quality problems can quickly damage trust.

Lessons Founders and Investors Can Take from Licious

Studying a company in the D2C meat and seafood space offers lessons that go beyond any single firm. The points below are general lessons for the sector and are not claims about Licious.

• A clear brand identity and consistent product quality matter more than short-term sales spikes.
• Repeat customers lower acquisition costs and make growth more profitable.
• Controlling the supply chain helps protect quality and margins as volumes grow.
• Selling across several channels, such as own website, marketplaces, quick commerce and stores, reduces dependence on one platform.
• Healthy contribution margins are a better sign of progress than revenue growth alone.

How to Evaluate Licious as a Startup

• Customer clarity: Can Licious name its customer and the problem it solves in one sentence?
• Evidence of demand: Look for repeat customers, signed contracts or measurable usage rather than announcements alone.
• Economics: Check whether margins improve as volume grows.
• Execution: Compare announced timelines with what has actually been delivered.
• Funding runway: Estimate how long current capital lasts at the present spending rate.
• Regulatory standing: Confirm required approvals are in place.
• Customer concentration: Check whether a few customers account for most of the revenue.
• Management depth: Look for experienced leaders beyond the founders and a stable core team.

The Takeaway

Licious is part of India’s growing D2C meat and seafood ecosystem. The useful lesson from studying it is the discipline of asking structured questions about customers, economics, advantage and resilience. Companies that answer them well, repeatedly and under pressure are the ones that endure. Readers should treat any single report, ranking or funding headline as one input among many, and should re-check key facts against recent company announcements. Because public information on young companies is often limited, patience in verifying claims is part of good analysis. Public sources can also describe the same company in different ways, so it is worth checking dates, definitions and whether a figure refers to revenue, total income or transaction value, and whether it covers one entity or a wider group, before drawing conclusions. Small differences in rounding, currency conversion or reporting periods can also change how a figure reads. Comparing the same figure across several recent reports helps show whether it is stable or has changed over time. This article is educational and is not investment advice.

• Clear customers and repeat demand matter more than announcements.
• Regulation and capital needs shape how fast a startup in this sector can grow.
• Track a few leading indicators over time rather than one headline metric.

Licious FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions

What is Licious?

Licious is a Bengaluru-based Indian direct-to-consumer brand that sells fresh meat and seafood online and through its own stores. It is profiled in the Startup Deep Dive series, which explains business model, funding, competitors and risks.

Who founded Licious?

Licious was founded by Abhay Hanjura, Vivek Gupta, and the company reports a founding year of 2015.

How much funding has Licious raised?

Reports differ: about $488 million to $554 million. Funding figures are reported and may differ between sources, so readers should check the latest company announcements.

How does Licious make money?

Licious earns revenue from its D2C meat and seafood products and services sold to online shoppers, retail customers, marketplaces and distribution partners. The exact revenue mix is described in the business model section and is not fully disclosed publicly.

Who are the competitors of Licious?

Reported rivals include FreshToHome, Zappfresh, BBDaily, MeatRoot. See the competitor comparison above for how they differ.

What are the main risks for Licious?

Main risks include competition: low barriers to entry and large marketplaces make it hard for a brand to stay differentiated, funding and capital needs, competition and regulation by consumer protection rules, FSSAI and BIS standards where relevant, the Legal Metrology rules and e-commerce regulations. This is educational content, not investment advice.

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Source

Source: Publicly available data, published reports, industry research, and other credible sources.