Rebalance Startup: Goa-based Tea Trunk - A Global, Premium Tea Brand from India raises $220K
Snigdha grew up collecting teas.
Friends and family who would travel well would always bring back teas as presents for her. At one point, she owned over 100 exotic teas from China, Japan, Russia, Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Kenya and more. In 2011, her growing passion for tea took her to Sri Lanka, where she studied under the guidance of Japanese tea master, Nao Kumekawa.
In 2013, she launched Tea Trunk with her own line of signature tea blends.
Tea Trunk is a global, premium tea brand from India crafting wellness teas for the new generation of health-conscious consumers.
Tea Trunk participated in Rebalance Accelerator’s Inaugural Cohort and we’re thrilled to announce they have raised USD 220K led by a group of angels and The Rebalance Community.
Some angels who participated in this round — Anand Sinha, Global Head at Zomato Gold; Anshul Agarwal, Co-head, Consumer, FIG & Business Services at Avendus Capital; Mandar Vaidya, CEO at OYO for South-East Asia and the Middle-East; Puneet Chandra, CEO at Skootr; Rohit Shankar, Co-Founder at DimDim (acquired by Salesforce); Sorabh Agarwal, ex-MD — Copal Amba (acquired by Moody’s Analytics) and Vaibhav Suri, Co-Head Product and Strategy at Delhivery.
Tea Trunk has successfully established itself as a premium tea brand in India, enjoying a loyal customer base. The first brand to launch a superfood, Matcha Green Tea in India and Tea Trunk has a long list of firsts. With over 200 stockists/partners across India, the teas are enjoyed across 15 countries and their customer base has been growing at 150% YoY.
“We plan to use the funds to expand our product line of health-focused teas, launch more innovative products, and to strengthen our positioning in the wellness space — as a functional beverage for daily consumption.” — Snigdha Manchanda, Founder at Tea Trunk.
We are experiencing the new global wellness economy worth $4.2 trillion. In fact, health-conscious individuals are ready to pay up to 70% premium on health, food, and beauty for their wellness. The growing importance for healthy eating, nutrition and weight loss is fueling the growth for green, healthy or herbal teas in India.
“Premium tea is a fast-growing segment within and outside India. Looking forward to supporting Tea Trunk in becoming global Tea Brand from India,” said Sorabh Agarwal.
“Snigdha has relentlessly built a profitable company in a challenging consumer brand space. She did this while focusing on a superior product and building a robust team. We are happy we could help Snigdha navigate through fundraising and actively participate in shaping her company for future growth,” said Vikas Kumar and Aishwarya Malhi, Co-Founders at Rebalance.
“I am super excited to be partnering with Snigdha and Tea Trunk. What she and the team have built is inspirational and they are only getting started,” added Anand Sinha, Global Head, Zomato Gold.
“I believe in Snigdha’s vision, and can’t wait to see Tea Trunk play a pivotal role in transforming the wellness teas market in India and globally,” said Mandar Vaidya, CEO at OYO for South-East Asia and the Middle-East.
Only 11% of the global deal volume went to women-led startups in 2019. When you narrow that down into a solo women founders, the number is almost negligible.
“Every single report out there, the numbers are stacked against women founders. Rebalance has created a platform to break the status quo and I am happy to be a part of their mission,” said Snigdha Manchanda.
Rebalance is on a mission to accelerate diversity in founders and funders. We help companies with diverse founders grow.
More about Snighdha’s experience at Rebalance below:
More about Rebalance and its mission here.
