Makers of Jimmy's Cocktails Radiohead Brands Raises ?12Cr Led by Prath Ventures

Gurgaon based startup, Radiohead Brands, makers of the category leading brand Jimmy’s®, announced closure of their Pre Series A round at 35cr, led by Prath Ventures, Capital Ventures and Illeyrium Ventures. 

The round also saw participation from prominent angel investors like Neel Bahl, Sandeep Aggarwal of Droop (ex Shop Clues). Existing investors also participated in the round.  

Recently the company had announced its transformation into a multi-beverage brands company, broadening its offerings beyond Jimmy’s® Cocktails and Sparkling Mixers. As part of this expansion, the company has recently introduced ‘Hustle’ Energy drink, conceived with a view to disrupt the fast growing Energy Drinks category. This strategic portfolio expansion reflects the brand's vision to build the premium beverage category in India and its commitment to deliver exceptional taste and unrivaled drinking experiences to a broader audience.

Founded by Ankur Bhatia & Nitin Bhardwaj in 2019, its first brand Jimmy’s® claims to have moved ahead of all other start-ups competing in the same space, having served over 12 million drinks in FY’23. It now plans to use its deep category experience, already established route to market and unique ability to build brands fast and frugal to dominate the premium energy drinks segment.

“I want to welcome our new investors and thank our existing investors for their continued faith in us. For this round we had very high interest from prominent VCs ranging from $8M - $10M however we weren’t able to accept that as we do not believe in a high burn high growth business model. We have an eclectic mix of people on our cap table who like us, believe in a sustainable and profitable approach to building our brands,” shared Bhatia.

Radiohead Brands had raised ₹14cr in March 2022 in a funding round led by Roots Ventures as part of their Pre Series A. To launch their new Energy Drink it extended its Pre Series A for another ₹20cr which it did in two parts the first one in June 2023 and the most recent now.

The company plans to enter several new categories in open white spaces still untapped by the beverage majors over the next few years and has an ambition to reach ₹100 crore revenue run-rate by next year building to a ₹1000 crore revenue company within the decade.

Speaking about the investment, Piyush Goenka, Founder, Prath Ventures said, “Radiohead Brands is our play on the high-growth premium beverages segment in India. Ankur and Nitin are the best team to build in this market with a strong understanding of brand building and distribution. The company’s products under Jimmy's brand have huge customer love and are well accepted by the trade. They have now entered the rapidly expanding market of Energy drinks through the introduction of Hustle Energy drink. We believe the company is set to emerge as a leading premium beverage player in a few years with a diversified portfolio of brands and products.”