Arboreal Secures ₹230 Cr Series A to Scale Specialty Food & Nutraceutical Ingredient Innovation in India

• Co-led by Omnivore and EAAA Alternatives, the round will accelerate proprietary R&D, advanced manufacturing and commercialization of next-generation functional ingredients.

Arboreal Bioinnovations Private Limited, India’s first specialty food and nutraceutical ingredients technology company, today announced the successful close of its ₹230 crore Series A funding round. EAAA, the alternatives arm of Edelweiss and Omnivore co-led the funding round, with continued backing from existing investor Rainmatter by Zerodha.

The transaction represents one of the largest Series A fundraises in India’s specialty food ingredients sector. Arboreal will deploy the capital to expand its manufacturing capacity, strengthen its research and development capabilities, and accelerate the commercialization of its next generation of functional ingredients.

Arboreal has built a differentiated “contextual innovation” model focused on developing ingredient solutions for the specific nutritional, functional, sensory and commercial requirements of Indian consumers and brands. This approach has enabled hundreds of emerging and challenger brands to launch category-defining products and scale rapidly across the food, beverage and nutraceutical markets.

The company’s integrated ingredient technology platform brings together ingredient engineering, process research and development, formulation science and precision manufacturing. Arboreal has developed and commercialized proprietary ingredients across next-generation proteins, cocoa-based ingredients, natural zero-calorie sweeteners and functional fibres, with several additional ingredient platforms currently under development.

Having more than doubled its growth year-on-year, Arboreal’s portfolio of “better-for-you” ingredients and its “ingredient-first innovation” model have supported more than 300 product launches across over 1,100 consumer brands and nutraceutical manufacturers during the past 18 months.
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Swati Pandey, Co-Founder and CEO, Arboreal Bioinnovations, said - This fundraise is a strong validation of the direction we are taking as a company. It gives us the fuel to accelerate our mission of building clean, science-led solutions that address some of the world's most pressing nutritional and food challenges, with innovation originating in India and reaching consumers globally.

Manish Chauhan, Co-Founder and COO,  Bioinnovations said - This fundraise marks an important milestone in Arboreal’s journey from building IP led ingredient technologies to enabling big shifts across categories through ingredient first innovation. The confidence shown by EAAA, Omnivore and Rainmatter validates both the strength of our platform and the opportunity ahead of us. It gives us the ability to invest more deeply in science, manufacturing, talent and long-term innovation, while building a platform capable of creating differentiated ingredients for some of the world’s most important food and nutraceutical brands. We are excited to build Arboreal into a globally respected ingredient technology company from India.

Ashish Agarwal, Managing Director, Private Equity, EAAA Alternatives, added, " The investment in Arboreal reflects the core philosophy of our Fund’sstrategy - backing businesses with the potential to emerge as category leaders. As the first investment from our Discovery Fund II, we are particularly excited at the long term growth prospects of Arboreal’s next-generation yeast protein products We look forward to working with Swati and Manish as they continue to build category leadership in R&D-led nutraceutical ingredients.”

Jinesh Shah, Managing Partner at Omnivore, said, "The shift toward clean-label and functional foods requires engineered ingredients that deliver clear health benefits without sacrificing taste or margins. Arboreal fills a critical market gap with locally developed formulations. From sweetener alternatives to novel yeast proteins and collagens, Arboreal’s R&D stack positions them to power the next wave of health and wellness brands."

Dinesh Pai, Head of investments at Rainmatter, said, "We all lament that India does not allocate capital for enough R&D. Aside from all the things everyone else shared in their reasoning for the investment, we truly wanted to back Swati and Manish in building a world class R&D team working on food ingredients from India. We believe that they are the right team, with exceptional grit to chase down this problem. Rainmatter exists to back these audacious bets, and this is one of them."

Zeon Lifesciences Upgrades its Paonta Sahib Plant enabled with AI and Industry 2.0 Automation

Aims to boost production and create more job opportunities

Zeon Lifesciences, an Indian nutraceutical and herbal product manufacturer upgrades its Paonta sahib plant enabled with AI and Industry 2.0 Automation for business growth and innovation with the goal of focusing on new innovations and research advancements in India's nutraceutical industry.

New developments have occurred at the existing plant as a result of plant advancement, such as the implementation of ZEMANEX's new operating model (Zeon Manufacturing Excellence- The New Way of Working), the formation of a new independent vertical: Manufacturing Compliance, the implementation of the new First Line Leader (FLL) concept for better accountability and responsibility, and so on.

The firm will gain from this in terms of capacity improvement, a focused perspective on zero faults, zero waste, zero accidents, cost optimization, diverse clientele, and a greater ability to handle diverse clients and diverse demands of all dose forms. Consequently, additional jobs will be created, for those with less than five years of work experience, changing the operating model, which includes the organizational structure; from top-heavy to bottom rich, creates better opportunities for them to be inducted as developed FLL members, where they can demonstrate their talent and leadership in leading blue-collar workers.

Expressing his views on the development, Suresh Garg, MD, and Founder, of Zeon Lifesciences, stated “To tackle the upcoming challenges of industrial expansion, research & development, and innovations in the nutraceutical sector, technology-enabled innovation and consistent adoption of new technologies are required. I think that this new development and the facilities at the plant will open up new opportunities for business, medical research, and innovation, as well as establish a standard for nutraceuticals in India. I have no doubt that this new business initiative will be a great success."

“Zeon consistently promotes innovative and translational research in an effort to revolutionize medical innovation and research in India. The main goal of this development is to conduct out R&D projects that are easy to manage to study product formulation and its development in the areas of Nutraceuticals, Ayurvedic, Clinical Nutrition, Phytotherapeutics, Sports Nutrition and Cosmeceuticals” said Dr. Vivek Srivastav, Senior Vice President, Zeon Lifesciences

About Zeon Lifesciences

Established in 1987, Zeon Lifesciences Ltd., has become one of the most preferred manufacturing partners for Nutraceutical and Herbal products for major reputed industries across Indian and global territories. The company deals with a wide range of product categories such as Health and Wellness, Vigor and Vitality, Beauty and Wellness, Bone Health, Endurance, and Healthy Weight. A broad spectrum of end-to-end researched-driven products caters to all Men’s Health, Women’s Health, and Kid’s Health, Medical Nutrition, and Weight Management Nutrition. It has advanced its systems and institutions to deliver the absolute highest quality of nutraceutical and supplement products to every client, and at an unmatched value.

Formed by a strong vision of the industry veteran Mr Suresh Garg back in 1987, Zeon is a heritage-rich company that envisions good health for all. Zeon is a leader in finished formulations and quality ingredients with a focus on extensively researched products. It offers a complete bouquet of manufacturing and developmental solutions to meet the ever-changing market demand. Zeon has a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at Ponta Sahib, Himachal Pradesh, which is spread across 28000sq. Yards. The facility is equipped with the latest technology and a DSIR recognized R&D facility dedicated to Gen-next innovation. The campus has four manufacturing units for dedicated SKU’s like Spray-dried Powder, Dry Blended Powder, Tablets, Capsules, Diskettes, and Liquids. This ensures environmental control for each type of formulation.

Nutraceutical Startup Laurik Launches ‘Laurik Bites’ to Improve Sleep, Focus and Gut Health

The new range of product curated by the top scientists is in an easy to consume bite size.

In a span of one month of its launch, Laurik has witnessed 150 per cent growth in sales, and 100 per cent on MAU (Monthly Unique Visitors)

Laurik, a unique health elevator brand, today launched a new product range Laurik Bites that caters to three important categories: gut, sleep, and focus. Each bite is 100 per cent natural and consists of lauric acid, a rare substance found in mother’s milk, palm, or coconut. Laurik Bites also contains 26 potent natural ingredients.

Laurik products were launched in the market in April this year, providing a range of health shots that caters to haircare and skincare, which naturally improves the hair, skin, and overall health. Laurik has witnessed 150 per cent growth in sales, and 100 per cent on MAU (Monthly Unique Visitors) in a span of one month.

Lavanya Sunkari, Founder and CEO, Laurik said, “Laurik aims to improve people’s health and wellbeing. We are at the forefront of innovation, using a blend of science and natural ingredients to solve some of the most significant healthcare challenges. We provide healthy solutions through its compositions derived from coconut. Millennials need products that show results quickly and are easy to consume. Laurik bites are a natural solution to the millennials who are faced with sleeplessness and anxiety."

Lavanya Sunkari and Archana Chindam

Laurik Bites is on a mission to help at least 10 - 12 million millennials across India over the next three years. The millennial generation seeks results faster and chooses products that are not healthy or harmful to the body when used for a prolonged period of time. In this case, Laurik has a naturally derived and science-backed solution for their problem of poor sleep and a lack of concentration without giving them a bad effect or a habit-forming solution like synthetics/ chemically derived products.

Laurik Bites are easy-to-consume products that deliver minerals and micronutrients in a food form due to which the absorption levels are high. The start-up is in the process of filing a patent for Laurik bites. With this launch, now there are 16 types of Laurik products for both men and women that are available on the website Lauriko.com and Amazon India. The startup soon plans to launch its products across several other e-commerce platforms as well as supermarkets.

Laurik is a D2C nutraceutical brand. It is the first brand in the world to have worked on the composition for health and beauty using Lauric acid-enhanced coconut powder shots combined with 26 other potent ingredients developed by the top scientists of India. Laurik shots are certified by the top 10 food certifications, enabling Laurik to be a 100 per cent natural, global brand. It is the second nutraceutical brand in India to be awarded the Clean Label Certification from the Clean Label Project™ US.

Nutraceutical Startup Laurik Raises INR 37 Million in the Ideation Stage

Laurik produces the world's first Lauric enhanced coconut shots developed by top scientists after 24 months of extensive research in health and beauty.

The startup is also one of the 100 brands in the world and second Nutraceutical brand in India to be awarded with the Clean Label Certification.

Laurik, a unique health elevator brand, which uses coconut derivative and provides the right nutrients in a shot, today announced that it has raised a funding amount of INR 37 million while just in its ideation stage. Laurik is also one of the 100 brands in the world and second Nutraceutical brand in India to be awarded with the Clean Label Certification from the Clean Label Project™.

Laurik is a D2C nutraceutical startup that produces the World's first Lauric enhanced coconut shots. It was founded in 2020 by Lavanya Sunkari and supported by Archana Chindam to improve long-term health and well-being of the people. Lavanya, who is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Laurik is a serial entrepreneur with over 15years of experience in brand building and strategies for established multi-national brands. She is also a certified nutrition expert from Stanford and the American Council on exercise. Archana Chindam who joined Laurik as the Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, is a serial Food and Agritech entrepreneur and passionate about improving the health through better nutrition.

Lavanya Sunkari, Founder and CEO, Laurik said, “The goal of Laurik is to work towards empowering people to invest in a healthy lifestyle by providing them with a comprehensive blend of ingredients with well-researched benefits. Being recognized by the Clean Label Project™ as one of few companies in the world for creating clean products, validates our mission to unlock the power of nature with exceptional innovation to make products that are healthier, and safer for daily consumption"

The funding round was led by marquee investors like Murthy Aradhi, co-founder at FastCollab and Lakshmikant PB, Director of Finance at Antler, an early-stage venture capital firm. Laurik’s unique product has also received recognition from the Telangana government and T-Hub as they recently provided the startup with a fund through the T-Fund program.

The Indian market for plant-based nutraceuticals is witnessing robust growth following the outbreak of the COVID-19. Indian nutraceuticals market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15.00% in the forecast period of 2022-2027. The startup aims to capture this growing market and use these funds primarily to strengthen research and development, expand the team size and scale its go-to-market operations. It will also use the funds for marketing its products and launching new product categories in the coming months.

Laurik produces the World’s first enhanced coconut shots using lauric acid, which a rare element that is found in mother’s milk and coconut. It extracts this element from the premium quality coconuts and combines it with over 26 whole-food-sourced vitamins, minerals, superfoods, and probiotics in one shot. These shots are made employing an age-old Ayurvedic concept developed after 24 months of extensive scientific research by top scientists from across the globe. The startup has also filed for over 12 formulation patents this year.

The Clean Label Certification from the Clean Label Project™ is a testament to the startup’s philosophy of being 100 per cent natural. Laurik received this highest level of United States (US) certification in recognition of its standard of quality in sourcing natural ingredients and manufacturing products that surpass industry norms.

Laurik provides a range of health shots that caters to haircare and skincare, which naturally improves the skin, hair, and overall health. The Laurik shots, namely hair shots, skin shots, collagen booster shots and anti-ageing shots come in pocket-friendly sachets and are easy to consume. Currently, there are 12 types of Laurik shots for both men and women that are available on the website Lauriko.com, and the startup soon plans to launch its products across several e-commerce platforms as well as supermarkets.

About Laurik:

Laurik is a D2C nutraceuticals brand. Laurik is the first brand in the world to have worked on the composition for health and beauty of enhanced coconut powder shots combined with 26 other potent ingredients developed by the top scientists of India. Laurik shots are certified by the top 10 food certifications, enabling Laurik to be a 100 per cent natural, global brand.