Croft Beverages, a farmer-centric sustainable tea startup, has raised $125K in pre-seed funding round through a combination of equity and debt. The investment round was led by notable angel investors from the tea, sustainability, IT, and biotech industries.
According to the press release, the company has utilized this fund raise to instantly prove with great success, its farmer owned FPC model with its first mini-factory in Billicombai near Kotagiri. Each mini-factory directly creates entrepreneurs out of 25 small-farmers and multiplies their incomes by 3x. The company intends to replicate this success and scale a unique category of sustainable and traceable Nilgiris Tea by creating a network of 100+ mini farmers’ owned factories before 2030.
Through its strategic initiatives like 100% “farm to cup” traceability and best in class agronomy, the company has formed key partnerships with some of the country’s leading brands under its “direct from origin” model. The first batch of tea produced by the farmers’ factory is fully sold out, and Croft is now working on setting up the next three farmer owned factories in 2025.
“With our tea, every sip tells a story. At Croft, farmers aren’t just growers- they are owners, running their own mini-factories. From their fields to your cup, we bring tea that’s honest, traceable and fair. For brands and buyers, it’s unmatched transparency; for farmers It’s prosperity. Together we’re brewing a tea revolution, one sip at a time,” said Harish Kannan, Founder of Croft Beverages (IIMB alumnus and ex-Business head at Olam Coffee).
