ⓘ Featured image: A file-photo of Srikumar Misra, Founder of Milk Mantra; Credits: bhubaneswarbuzz.com
Odisha-based dairy products startup, Milk Mantra has reportedly raised $10 million in debt financing from US International DFC, the company said on Friday (19 June).
Commenting in the investment, Ajay Rao, Director of DFC’s Social Enterprise Finance Team in a statement said,
“We have been very impressed by the Milk Mantra team and its efforts to build a socially responsible business that empowers smallholder farmers while strengthening food security.”
The funding will be deployed towards building Milk Mantra’s digital financial services platform for its network of farmers. The company has also revealed that a part of the investment, $371K has been allocated to support Milk Mantra’s agriculture extension and ethical milk-sourcing programme.
Srikumar Misra, Founder of Milk Mantra said,
“In these challenging times, when debt liquidity in India is almost at a freeze, for a premium food consumer startup like Milk Mantra to raise a substantial debt in the form of external commercial borrowing is noteworthy. This leverage will in fact enable the company to raise large amounts of equity capital to fund its inorganic growth plans further down the line,”
He also added,
“We have developed an ethical sourcing model that looks to revitalise rural economies, increase farmers’ yields, and provide farmers, their families, and their communities with growth opportunities while we scale up a mass-premium food brand that’s nourishing the lives of consumer families.”
About Milk Mantra
Founded in 2009 by Srikumar Misra, Milk Mantra aims to create healthy dairy products for the customers and making a real sustainable positive impact on Odisha. The company claims that it has sustainably impacted over 60,000 farmer families by helping them increase productivity by 31 percent and income by 70 percent. The company has recorded a revenue of $32 million in 2020, and reaches over 300,000 households every day. Milk Mantra has a good number of investors including Eight Roads, Aavishkaar, Neev Fund and now US International DFC too.
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