Reliance Consumer Products, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Retail, is acquiring D2C snacking startup TagZ Foods for INR 28 Cr ($3.5 Mn) in what seems like a distress sale.
TagZ has raised a total funding of about $3.2 Mn across multiple funding rounds till date.
The size of the deal could alter post the due diligence, a regulatory filing revealed.
Questions sent to Reliance Consumer and TagZ about the deal remained unanswered till the time of publishing this story.
Earlier, sources told Inc42 that the D2C brand halted production a few months ago as it was struggling to scale its business. Its products have not been available on ecommerce marketplaces and retail stores for the last few months.
This also resulted in a number of employees quitting the startup, the sources added.
Founded in 2019 by Anish Basu Roy and Sagar Bhalotia, TagZ is an omnichannel snacking brand that sells popped potato chips, gourmet dips and cookies. It sells products across its website, ecommerce platforms, and offline retail stores.
The startup, which also featured on TV show Shark Tank India, last raised an undisclosed amount of funding from former Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan. He was later onboarded as its brand ambassador.
Prior to that, TagZ raised $2 Mn in its pre-Series A funding round led by 9 Unicorns. Earlier, it raised $1.2 Mn in its seed funding round from a group of angel investors in 2020.
TagZ counts Dexter Angels, Agility Ventures, Venture Catalysts, and Klub among its investors. It competes against the likes BRB, Too Yum, Lays, Uncle Chips, among others.
The startup reported a net loss of INR 10.7 Cr on an operating revenue of INR 9.6 Cr in FY23.
The development comes at a time when a number of D2C brands have emerged in the country over the last few years. Many of these brands have also been acquired by FMCG giants. For instance, ITC acquired Yoga Bar in January 2023, and Hindustan Unilever acquired Oziva and Wellbeing Nutrition in 2022.
