Licious's farm-to-fork bet tightens: UnCrave shut, IPO deferred for profit

Licious was founded in Bengaluru in 2015 by Vivek Gupta and Abhay Hanjura on a simple bet: Indian consumers would pay a premium for fresh, hygienic meat and seafood if someone owned the supply chain from farm to doorstep. Its farm-to-fork model controlled procurement, cold storage, processing and last-mile delivery, and it grew into India's first D2C food unicorn, backed by Temasek, 3one4 Capital and IIFL with more than $550M raised.

The growth engine stalled before it could go public. In FY24 revenue fell 8.4% to ₹685 crore, even as net losses narrowed 44% to ₹293.8 crore. The company had launched UnCrave in 2022 to sell plant-based meat alternatives for occasions such as Navratri, but by 2025 sources said there simply wasn't enough market for plant-based meat in India and Licious was burning ₹20–22 crore a month.

In September 2025 Licious quietly discontinued UnCrave entirely and cut monthly burn to roughly ₹7–8 crore, while doubling down on brand-owned stores and quick-commerce channels like Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart. The founders also pushed the planned public listing out, saying profitability would come before the IPO.

The outcome leaves the original bet intact but unproven: Licious still controls the cold chain and remains a leading premium meat brand, yet it must show it can grow revenue again and reach profit after a year of decline, against rivals like FreshToHome and Meatigo.