The State Plate Raises Pre-Seed Funding From Antler India The platform will use the investment to grow their private label and build a range of high quality and affordable products liked by the masses in the country

The State Plate, a curated platform for India's regional foods, on Wednesday announced to have raised pre-seed funding from Antler India.

The State Plate is pursuing the massive unbranded regional foods market and will use the investment to grow their private label and build a range of high-quality and affordable products liked by the masses in the country. The startup will also use the funds to expand its team across design, marketing, and procurement. With a strong focus on storytelling, pricing, and curation, the startup is on its path of disrupting a massive yet nascent niche within the F&B segment.

"We are not a traditional marketplace where vendors are free to list and sell on the platform - we are a curated platform wherein we research, sample, and handpick every product we put in front of our consumers. Our thoughtful curation and high bar on quality is our differentiator and makes our customers' buying process much easier. While running The State Plate over the past year, Raghav and I came across several regional food products being sold without labels, branding, or good packaging. We want to fill this gap, and see a big opportunity for creating a strong brand that appeals to the modern consumer and has pan-India relevance. We will double down on our private label strategy over the next few months, and see it as a large part of our platform play in the long-term," said Muskaan Sancheti, co-founder, The State Plate.

The State Plate was founded in August 2020 by Muskaan Sancheti and Raghav Jhawar. Driven by the unavailability of ethnic food products in big-box stores, the startup is on a mission to bring Indian consumers closer to home and nostalgia. Additionally, they are facilitating the exploration and discovery of the best flavors of India from outside of one's hometown.

Since its launch, The State Plate has delivered over 35,000 orders to customers across India from their curated inventory of more than 500 products across 9 Indian states. The platform is growing over 45 per cent month-on-month, with 50 per cent of total customers returning for repeat purchases.

"With rising inter-state migration, and consumers wanting to explore beyond the standard packaged food options, the demand for niche Indian foods is increasing. The F&B market is getting crowded with players in the healthy snacking, meals, and gourmet food space, yet there aren't many focusing on regional food, which is still dominated by traditional, unorganized businesses. The Indian ethnic food segment in urban centres is a $30 billion opportunity but is underserved and largely untapped due to highly localized brands, weak supply chains, and commercial parameters like shelf-life and packaging requirements. Beyond India, we also see a huge opportunity in this space globally. The State Plate is disrupting the market by organizing it and creating a one-stop solution for Indian regional foods; focusing on convenience, quality, comprehensive curation of variants, and updated packaging formats to appeal to the modern Indian consumer," shared Rajiv Srivatsa, partner, Antler India.

The startup has recently announced the launch of its private label, which currently spans 14 new products native to different parts of the country. The team plans to expand the State Plate white-label offering to more than 500 products by the end of 2022.