Earlier this month Sistema Asia Capital, one of the corporate venturing vehicles of the Russian conglomerate AFK Sistema, took part in a $25 million Series C funding round for Licious, an Indian online meat and fish ordering startup.
The funding round was led by Bertelsmann India Investments, UCLA, and Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India, while Mayfield India, 3one4 Capital and InnoVen Capital supported the round along with Sistema Asia Capital. Neither the investors’ respective contributions nor the terms of the deals were disclosed.
The deal comes as another illustration of Russian investors’ appetite for Indian food delivery startups. Thus, just a few months ago, Sistema backed Faaso, while DST Global led a $210 million round for Swiggy.
Launched in 2016, Sistema Asia Capital (initially known as Sistema Asia Fund) targets essentially startups operating in the technology and niche consumer retail segments in India and Southeast Asia. The fund has established its headquarters in Singapore and an office in India.
