Meat startup Licious is India’s largest tech-first full-stacked D2C (direct-to-consumer) fresh meat and seafood brand that has raised $52 million in a funding round led by IIFL AMC’s Late Stage Tech Fund. The funding has made it India’s first D2C unicorn or a startup with over $1 billion valuations.

Avendus FLF (Future Leaders Fund) has also invested in this round. Avendus Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Licious for the transaction.

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Licious is now the 29th unicorn to emerge out of India in 2021 amid a funding boom. The funding would help it to compete better with players such as FreshToHome, Zappfresh as well as prominent players such as BigBasket and Swiggy.

Vivek Gupta and Abhay Hanjura, co-founders of Licious, said that in the coming years, Licious would work towards building a sustainable, responsible business that will reimagine the animal protein category in India through an optimal mix of global influence and products curated for the Indian palate.