Verlinvest, Mirchandani Family Raise Stakes In Epigamia In $20 Mn Secondary Deal

Epigamia, the Indian D2C dairy and yoghurt brand, was the subject of a $20 million secondary transaction in which existing shareholders Verlinvest and the family of its late cofounder Rohan Mirchandani increased their stakes, per Inc42. The deal did not result in any fresh capital infusion into the startup.

The transaction involved the purchase of shares from existing investors DSG Consumer Partners and Deepika Padukone's investment firm KA Enterprises, both of which sold portions of their stakes, Inc42 reports. Sauce.vc also entered Epigamia's cap table as a new institutional investor as part of the deal. Verlinvest first backed the company in 2016 through a $6 million Series A round and has participated in multiple funding rounds since.

Founded in 2015 by Rohan Mirchandani, Uday Thakker, Krishnamoorthy, and Rahul Jain, Epigamia started as a Greek yoghurt brand and has since expanded its product range to include artisanal curd, snack packs, mishti doi, and smoothies, according to Inc42. The company sells through its own website, e-commerce and quick-commerce platforms, and offline retail, claiming a distribution network of more than 25,000 retail touchpoints across more than 30 cities. To date, Epigamia has raised around $60 million from investors including Verlinvest, Danone Manifesto Ventures, DSG Consumer Partners, and Padukone.

The secondary deal follows a period of leadership transition at the startup. Rohan Mirchandani died in December 2024, after which COO Ankur Goel took on operational oversight alongside cofounder Uday Thakker and growth head Ajinkya Poundrik. In May, Epigamia appointed Ritesh Gauba as CEO — a hire accompanied by Goel's elevation to cofounder — per Inc42. Gauba has more than 24 years of experience in the FMCG sector and has previously worked with Mars and Britannia.

On the financials, Epigamia has yet to file its statements for FY25, but Inc42 reports that its net loss fell nearly 74% to ₹17.4 crore in FY24 from ₹67 crore the year prior, while operating revenue rose 3.3% to ₹173.7 crore from ₹168.1 crore. CEO Gauba said the transaction would give Epigamia "a stable shareholder base to support its next phase of growth," calling the strengthened commitments from Verlinvest, the Mirchandani family, and Sauce.vc "a strong endorsement of the business we have built and the opportunity ahead."