Vahdam India raises fund from ex-tea entrepreneur Ketan Desai

New Delhi: Vahdam India on Thursday said ex-tea entrepreneur Ketan Desai has made an investment in the company and has also been appointed as Chief Tea Educator and Sustainability officer.

In a statement, Vahdam said Desai has invested in the brand, without disclosing the amount.

Vahdam India, a five-year old tea start-up, has raised over USD 17 million in funding from investors including Fireside Ventures, Sixth Sense Ventures, Mankind Pharma, SAR Group, Urmin Group, Chona Family, and entrepreneurs like Kris Gopalkrishnan (Infosys founder), Pankaj Chaddha (Zomato founder), Amrish Rau (PayU founder), amongst others, it said.

The company has a facility in the national capital, and caters mainly to overseas markets.

Ketan comes with an experience of over 25 years and has previously started and successfully run multiple tea ventures in the past.

Prior to joining Vahdam, Ketan has been a tea entrepreneur twice before. He started TeaAuction.com and launched a range of tea boutiques by the name of CHA, the statement said.

Bala Sarda, founder and CEO of Vahdam India, said, “We are building a strong executive team for the next stage of growth and (to) strengthen the brand presence globally.” The brand is on a run rate to do Rs 150 crore in revenue in the current fiscal 2020-2021, Vahdam said.

The company competes with the likes of Teamonk and Teacupsfull.