To fuel its growth in the premium beverage segment in India, Gurgaon-based Radiohead Brands, makers of Jimmy’s Premium Cocktail mixers, raised INR 6 crore. This was in a bridge round led by Vinay Agarwal, Director, First State Stewart Asia and Keki Mistry, HDFC Ltd, amongst others. The round also saw participation by existing investors and the founders, all of whom upped their stake in the company.
Commenting on the fresh funding, Ankur Bhatia, Founder, Jimmy’s Cocktails said, “This investment from investors who had participated in our previous round, is testimony to our vision to be a market leader in the emerging premium beverage segment in India. While we had a few other offers on the table, with them we didn’t need to look far to step up our growth plans.”
Over recent years, cocktails as a category have moved up to contribute up to 30% revenue among premium bars and restaurants. Nevertheless, unlike most spirits, where on-premise popularity echoes in off-premise or home drinking choices, this trend refused to play catch up.
Launched September 2019, Jimmy’s Cocktails had completed a seed round of INR 2.5 crore just before lockdown was announced. Primarily a retail focussed brand, the company started direct-to-consumer sales from their website to overcome COVID-led challenges. This response to the changed retail environment proved expedient, with Jimmy’s having now home delivered their cocktail mixers to over 400 cities.
For its pre-series round, the company took a measured decision to limit the size of investment, as the founding team believes in maintaining profitability with growth. Proceeds from the new round will go towards the expansion of its retail footprint and enhancing its product portfolio. The company also plans to expand to overseas markets shortly.
Nitin Bhardwaj, Co-Founder and COO, Jimmy’s Cocktails said, “In less than a year, Jimmy’s Cocktails has scaled its presence to 1500 retail outlets across 20 cities and seen a 20X growth. However, while we continue to invest behind the brand and scale our operations, our resolve to build an inherently profitable business is strong.”
