Fragaria Fruits, a D2C food and beverage startup in Chennai, just secured $2 million in seed funding. WEH Ventures led the round, with Rainmatter, Spiral Ventures, and angel investor Sashi Kumar also participating. This comes after a pre-seed round of ₹1.5 crore a few months ago. Fragaria Fruits is quickly becoming a key player in India’s agri-tech and premium produce sectors.
The new funds will support Fragaria’s growth plans, as they want to grow their fruit selection, increase production in Bengaluru, and add new products like blueberries and raspberries. The goal is to keep up with rising consumer demand for quality fruit while building a reliable, year-round supply chain.
Harish Varadharajan, Timothy Chad Van Niekerk, and Damian López-Salazar founded Fragaria Fruits in 2024, with the aim to transform how India enjoys fruit through D2C sales and modern farming methods. Their main brand, Oh! Fruits, offers high-quality strawberries grown in Chennai using advanced Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) and vertical farming. These strawberries are sweeter, pesticide-free, and last three times longer than regular Indian varieties.
What makes Fragaria stand out is its focus on sustainability. They recycle water, use solar power, and manage resources carefully to create a farming model that is both low-impact and efficient.
Harish Varadharajan, co-founder of Fragaria Fruits, said, We want to change what people think about premium fruit in India by making it fresher, tastier, and easier to get. With this funding, we’re expanding to Bengaluru and increasing production to make sure Indian consumers can get our fruit all year round.
The business uses technology in agriculture and D2C sales. Their vertical farming systems and AI monitoring help improve growing conditions and reduce waste, giving them an edge over local and international brands. While they face competition from brands like Driscoll’s, Zespri, and Rockit, the growing trend toward local, traceable, and sustainable products puts Fragaria in a strong position to lead the premium D2C food and beverage market.
This funding shows that investors believe in India’s D2C market, where sustainability and traceability are becoming essential. Fragaria Fruits is combining agricultural innovation with a solid D2C strategy, not just growing strawberries, but also setting a new standard for fresh produce in India.
With India’s increasing interest in premium, locally grown fruits, Fragaria is becoming a D2C brand to watch, bridging sustainability, taste, and technology in the Indian D2C space.
