The renowned tea startup and premium online tea platform, backed by Ratan Tata – Teabox – will make a global retail foray by the end of 2021, if all goes well in this economic recovery phase.
The renowned tea startup, is also backed by \marquee venture capital firms such as Accel Partners, RB Investments and NB Ventures and is witnessing a 215% jump in demand, and plans go for the next round of funding at the “right time”.
Teabox, through multiple levels of funding, has reportedly raised over $10 million so far and by 2022, the company will set up around 20 tea lounges worldwide on a 100% ownership basis.
Kausshal Dugarr, founder and CEO, Teabox, with the rise in demand for high-quality tea, we are excited to take the experience to the next level through brick-n-mortar retail arena. We are looking forward to a low-key aesthetic entry and are talking to some partners with relevant experience in the same.
The Bengaluru-based tea startup has exuded confidence in changing the century-old practices in logistics and cut down on the time taken for fresh leaves to reach customers. “This is our USP. We have our warehouse based in Siliguri, the epicentre of tea trade in north India. I have cut down on the time taken to handle logistics to 15 days and that has helped in keeping intact the taste and aroma of garden-fresh leaves,” added Dugarr, a fourth-generation tea entrepreneur.
Asked about the firm’s prospect in 2021-22, Dugarr said, “There will be attractive price realisation this year; particularly with a lot of foreign buyers in popular EU and the US destinations placing advance orders. During the Covid 19-induced lockdown phase, Teabox had witnessed a fall in demand of 50-60%, but we continued taking orders.”
Presently, Teabox sells 40% of its products in the US, 20-25% in Russia and the rest in the UK, Australia and other European countries.