UK-based cocktail startup HappyDown is planning to enter India by June this year and will raise about USD 2 million to be used for the launch and expansion of its beverages, reported India Today.

Indian origin co-founders -- Paritosh Bhandari and Vishal Mair, launched HappyDown last year under its parent company Tipple Brands Ltd.

HappyDown, which is focused on craft alcohol, is looking to tap all the major metros of India and will be targeting the millennial.

"Indian consumers are experimental and there are different set of consumers who don't mind paying a premium for any good product. The mindset is we will consume less but will consume better," Tipple Brands co-founder Paritosh Bhandari told PTI.

He further added, "The funds we will raise will largely be used for the launch and distribution of the brand in India and we have been in talks with various investors for further investment."

The startup is also assessing the market to decide whether to get into home production or import from the UK.

The startup is in talks with distributors in India and will compete with other Indian brands like Bira 91 and White Rhino.

India is the third-largest and fastest-growing liquor market in the world. Alcoholic beverages is considered a sunrise industry owing to its high-growth potential and increasing social acceptance. According to a research report, the alcoholic beverages market in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 7.72% over a 10 year period to reach a value of INR 5.3 trillion in FY 2026.

According to research conducted by IMAGES Group – the publisher of Progressive Grocer India – for The India Food Report 2016, the market for beverages in India is close to Rs 195,000 crore and is growing at 20–23 per cent. This growth rate will take the category at three-and-a-half times of its present size by 2020.

Earlier this month only, a beverage (non-alcoholic) startup from Gurgaon KIVA raised funding from several marquee investors including Zomato co-founder Pankaj Chaddah.

Prior to that, Kolkata-based food and beverages (F&B) startup Chai Break has received Rs 5 crore angel funding from Venture Catalysts, in December 2017.

Beside HappyDown, another British startup Deliveroo, an online food delivery firm, is also on verge of entering India.
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