Unlike most startup founders, they were not techies who bonded over their passion for coding in the premises of an Indian Institute of Technology.
Vivek Gupta, a Chandigarh boy, is a chartered accountant and moved to Bangalore to work for a software company. Abhay Hanjura moved to Bengaluru from Jammu to pursue his graduation in biotechnology in genetics in 2004 from Bangalore University. He opted for a career in insurance risk management and BFSI.
Their friendship flourished because of two things: one, both wanted to do something on their own; and two, their common passion for food made them hang out at various restaurants in Bengaluru. During most of these meetings, they would only discuss food. Gupta’s first idea was to build a lingerie business, which didn’t see the light of the day.
However, he always knew that if he had to build something, it would be a large-scale business in a massive market.
The meaty idea finally came from Hanjura who in 2015 walked into Gupta’s office to discuss it over — what else but — lunch. But the chicken they ordered from a nearby restaurant was of sub-standard quality. Gupta remembers telling Hanjura, “We have to give life to this dead chicken!” That Eureka moment gave birth to Licious. They both felt it was important to change how Indians experienced meat and decided to sell high-quality, safe, and hygienic meat and seafood.
“I also gave him an example of Amul Butter. Every time you buy butter, you don’t open the packet and see the colour, the texture or the brand. You just trust the brand,” Gupta says. “The meat market was so unorganised that every time the consumer had to go to the store and figure out the quality by smelling it and looking at the texture. We thought that we should build a brand that takes away the pain of the consumer and stands accountable for consistent convenient experiences.”
“We decided to do this business for the rest of our lives,” says Gupta. The mission statement was soon drawn up — “We won’t sell what we won’t eat ourselves” and “An unparalleled meaty experience to Indians.”
The new company was born on July 1, 2015, even though they knew what they were getting into was not an easy market to crack. Added to that, it was not easy to convince their fathers, who both had retired from senior roles in government organisations. They were hesitant about their sons’ decision to quit their stable jobs and take the risk of starting a business, especially in the meat category, which was frowned upon by many. But the enthusiasm their sons had for Licious soon had a rub-off effect.
Then came the fundraising part. But, it wasn’t that tough. Kanwaljit Singh (founder and managing partner, Fireside Ventures), who knew Gupta very well, agreed to give them their first cheque. “We thought we would not get money as we were not from IIT or IIM,” says Hanjura. But Gupta was much more confident — “He had no choice; I had known him for many years.” He says with a smile.
Next, they reached out to ace investor TV Mohandas Pai for a seed round, who then asked them to come back with a better plan. “We only wanted to raise Rs 3 crore in that round, which we could have got anywhere else. But we just loved the challenge. Kamal was a friend, and he gave us the money. But the meeting with Mohandas Pai was highly professional, and he challenged us to do better. So, we went back after one week with a better plan,” Gupta says.
It was during this time that Hanjura and Gupta decided to convert the business model from offline to online as offline did not make economic sense back then, considering neither had deep pockets. Ironically, today, after nine years, the co-founders are pursuing their original dream to expand into the offline space.
In October 2024, Licious acquired Bengaluru-based meat and seafood retailer My Chicken and More, which has 23 offline stores in the city, to rapidly scale its offline presence in south India. In FY24, the company cut losses by 44% to Rs 293 crore. It expects to further cut losses in FY25 by 30-40% and achieve Ebitda profitability by the end of FY25. Once the offline model settles well and they figure out profitability, they plan to dial the number of stores to 70 to 100 stores every year.
During the second meeting with Pai, they also met their son Sidharth, who was a big-time foodie too. “Mohandas asked us to pitch to Sidharth, who was very excited about the plan, and that’s how we signed our first cheque,” Hanjura says. After that, the investors participated in all the rounds. “The first business plan which we gave to Mohandas Pai was a Rs 300 crore plan in five or seven years. Today, we are at Rs 1,000 crore. But, every time we meet him, the only thing he says is, ‘You can do better on revenue.’ This keeps us going,” Gupta says.
When they first launched, Gupta and Hanjura had 10 employees, and they gave them a target—to source 50 orders from people they knew. That day, they successfully delivered all 50 orders, but there was a catch: every single delivery was delayed. They realised that while the product was ready, the delivery fleet wasn’t. Realising the importance of seamless logistics, they made the tough call to shut down operations that very day until they were fully ready.
Fifteen days later, they relaunched with the same set of customers. This time, 90% of them became repeat buyers, validating their product and service. With this confidence, they launched the Licious website and scaled up. Their journey began in Whitefield, Bengaluru, where they took marketing to the streets—literally. Employees distributed coupons at petrol pumps, Licious put up a small hoarding, and conducted cooking shows in 10-15 apartment complexes with Hanjura cooking while Vivek handed out leaflets. This was just the beginning, and it set the foundation for everything that followed.
Hanjura says it also motivates him that they have paved the way for children from farmers’ families to launch startups in this category. “Farmers and their children are no longer afraid to startup in the sector. I remember that eight years ago, they would come to Bengaluru and work as a driver or a waiter. They were at the receiving end of exploitative middlemen and commodity fluctuations, so they were afraid to do anything in the sector.”
He wishes to see 1,000-2,000 entrepreneurs in the next 10 years who can collectively take the sector ahead. “That will be our real success,” Hanjura says.