Advertisement

The State Plate Raises Pre-Seed Funding

The startup has recently announced the launch of its private label, which currently spans 14 new products native to different parts of the country.

The State Plate, a curated platform for India’s best regional foods, has raised pre-seed funding from Antler India.  

India is home to numerous ethnicities and traditions, with each having a characteristic regional cuisine. These regional foods hold cultural and personal significance, yet are not widely available beyond their area of origin. The State Plate is solving for pan-India accessibility of regional cuisine by building a platform of regional specialities from across the country. From West Bengal’s Gobindobhog Rice and South India’s murukkus, to Nagaland’s Bhoot Jolokia pickle and Jamnagar’s dry-fruit rich kachoris, The State Plate houses a diverse range of products from kitchen essentials to iconic delicacies. 

Since launch, The State Plate has delivered 35,000+ orders to customers across India from their curated inventory of 500+ products across 9 Indian states. The platform is growing over 45% month-on-month, with 50% of total customers returning for repeat purchases. 

The startup has recently announced the launch of its private label, which currently spans 14 new products native to different parts of the country. The team plans to expand the State Plate white-label offering to 500+ unique products by the end of 2022. 

Muskaan Sancheti, Co-founder, The State Plate, says, “We are not a traditional marketplace where vendors are free to list and sell on the platform - we are a curated platform wherein we research, sample, and handpick every product we put in front of our consumers. Our thoughtful curation and high bar on quality is our differentiator, and makes our customers’ buying process much easier. While running The State Plate over the past year, Raghav and I came across several regional food products being sold without labels, branding or good packaging. We want to fill this gap, and see a big opportunity for creating a strong brand that appeals to the modern consumer and has pan-India relevance. We will double down on our private label strategy over the next few months, and see it as a large part of our platform play in the long-term.”

The State Plate was founded in August 2020 by Muskaan Sancheti and Raghav Jhawar, 22-year-old entrepreneurs and recent graduates from Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC). The idea for The State Plate took shape when Muskaan realized that her native authentic Rajasthani papad was unavailable for purchase across Bangalore. Driven by the unavailability of ethnic food products in big-box stores, the startup is on a mission to bring Indian consumers closer to home and nostalgia. Additionally, they are facilitating the exploration and discovery of the best flavours of India from outside of one's hometown. 

The State Plate is pursuing the massive unbranded regional foods market and will use the investment to grow their private label and build a range of high quality and affordable products liked by the masses in the country. The startup will also use the funds to expand its team across design, marketing and procurement. With a strong focus on storytelling, pricing and curation, the startup is on its path of disrupting a massive yet nascent niche within the F&B segment.

Rajiv Srivatsa, Partner at Antler India says, “ With rising inter-state migration, and consumers wanting to explore beyond the standard packaged food options, the demand for niche Indian foods is increasing. The F&B market is getting crowded with players in the healthy snacking, meals, and gourmet food space, yet there aren’t many focusing on regional food, which is still dominated by traditional, unorganised businesses. The Indian ethnic food segment in urban centres is a USD 30Bn opportunity but is underserved and largely untapped due to highly localized brands, weak supply chains, and commercial parameters like shelf-life and packaging requirements. Beyond India, we also see a huge opportunity in this space globally. The State Plate is disrupting the market by organizing it and creating a one-stop solution for Indian regional foods; focusing on convenience, quality, comprehensive curation of variants, and updated packaging formats to appeal to the modern Indian consumer.”

Earlier this year, global early-stage VC firm Antler announced a full-fledged launch in India. Antler is one of the fastest-growing VC firms in the world and plans to deploy $100M in 100+ Indian startups over the next 3 years.


Tags assigned to this article:
The State Plate investment investors funding

Around The World

Advertisement