Instant food brand Yu has bagged “strategic investment” from cricketer Hardik Pandya. He has also come on board as the brand ambassador for the start-up.

Founded by Bharat Bhalla and Varun Kapur, Yu offers instant food and ready-to-eat product offerings such as pasta, cup noodles, Hakka Noodles, oats, and halwa among others.

The homegrown brand recently closed its Series A fundraiser, led by Ashish Kacholia and Asian Paints Family in October 2022.

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In response to businessline’s queries, the company said, “This is a strategic investment by Hardik along with becoming the brand ambassador of Yu. The revolution that Yu is stirring with its chef-crafted, zero-preservative instant foods (a first in India) is what made him look at this engagement more holistically and longer term.”

“Yu is an 18-month-old brand and its revenues have been growing at 75 per cent plus quarter on quarter beginning Q1 FY23. In the current quarter (Q1-FY24), Yu aims to achieve sales of close to 2 million units that will translate into gross sales of ₹13-15 crore,” it added.

Yu will launch its maiden brand campaign during the IPL 2023 season spearheaded by Pandya. The brand is currently sold through over 4,000 offline stores, e-commerce, and quick commerce platforms besides institutional campuses. The brand also exports products to South Africa, the US, and Singapore.

Passion for health and wellness

In a statement, Yu founders Bharat Bhalla and Varun Kapur said, “Hardik is a youth icon, and as the face of Yu, he will help drive awareness among consumers enabling a switch in consumption patterns from currently available products that contain chemicals and preservatives. Hardik Pandya’s passion for health and wellness aligns perfectly with our brand’s core values and mission. We are confident that Hardik’s association will allow Yu to significantly scale its business across all channels and target groups.”

The start-up operates an integrated manufacturing facility at Gurugram. It received subsidised funding from the government of India’s DPIIT–Start Up India Seed Fund in October 2022.

The proceeds were used by the brand to double its production capacity to 2,200 kgs of food production per day. It aims to expand its offline presence to markets such as Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Chennai among others.

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