Bengaluru-based ready-to-drink craft cocktail start-up brand O’Be Cocktails recently attracted media attention when it declared that it was raising an undisclosed amount in a pre-series A round led by Inflection Point Ventures. The amount is to be channelised for enhancing capabilities, team building, and expanding into new markets.
Prior to this recent funding, the brand (the company’s name is Euphoric Beverages Pvt. Ltd.) had garnered Rs. 70 million funding in two rounds. In August 2021, O’ Be Cocktails announced that it raised its first round of investment amounting to Rs. 3.5 crore led by First Cheque, Letsventure, Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati from Ola, Abhishek Goyal (Founder, Tracxn), and Sprout Investments.
The start-up, which is engaged in producing high-quality ready to drink craft cocktails, which are developed with quality spirits and natural ingredients and which are ideal to pep up the mood in social gatherings and parties at home, is operational in Bhutan and nine states of India. The company’s products presently reach 1700 premium outlets and the company has a network of 22 private distributors, and has two government contracts.
Spirited Offerings
O’ Be cocktails has four meticulously crafted libations, each designed to elevate the drinking experience. o’ be Lively Liit is crafted with premium vodka, white rum, gin, agave, triple sec, cola and lime, and mixed to perfection. This spirited fusion has the potential to flow more life to parties. Its alcohol content is 8 percent ABV. Then there is o’be Fab Cosmopolitan, which comes across as a fine mix of premium vodka, cranberry, triple sec and lime. This fun and vibrant cocktail has an alcohol content of 8 percent ABV.
A swig of o’ be Zesty Mojito can refresh you after a tiring day. The company projects that the drink can bring a cool breeze in a glass. It is crafted with premium white rum, mint and lime and has an alcohol content of 8 percent ABV. o’be Sauve Gin & Tonic is crafted with rose infused gin, cucumber, tonic water and a few botanicals. This drink is also endowed with 8 percent ABV.
The origin of O’Be cocktails could be traced to its Founder and CEO, Nitesh Prakash’s embarking on a passionate pursuit of the ultimate cocktail experience. He established a mini-experiment lab in his kitchen for tastings and experiments with friends. His unwavering dedication led him to source fine spirits, visit distilleries, and meticulously handpick the crème de la crème of liquors and liqueurs. Leaving no detail untouched, he prioritised authentic, all-natural flavours and even chose the purest water. This fascinating journey eventually gave birth to O’Be Cocktails.
A Market with Potential
According to Nitesh Prakash, their ready-to-drink craft cocktails cater primarily to GenZ and millennial consumers for social gatherings at home and house parties. He also expressed the ambition of O’Be Cocktails leading the ready-to-drink (RTD) category growth in India and SE Asia with their range of cocktails. He enthused about the growing cocktail culture in India and said that he was looking forward to continually work and sustainably grow with Inflection Point Ventures.
RTD cocktails segment in India is showing the potential towards a vibrant growth phase. According to a market research report by Benori titled Ready-to-Drink Cocktail Market in India, the RTD (Ready-to-Drink) market in India is rapidly expanding due to millennials’ increased interest in pre-mixed cocktails and mocktails. Following the pandemic, the popularity of RTD cocktail expanded as more individuals experimented with at-home cocktails when they could not go to bars or restaurants, observes the report. The same report reveals that 78 percent of consumers of alcoholic beverages in India consume RTD cocktails.
“Indian consumers are ready to experiment and go beyond traditional alcoholic beverages where the RTD cocktail market is ready to offer innovations, new products, and flavours,” points out the above-mentioned report.
In fact, from the above-mentioned report we can get the indication that this recent surge in RTD market is a global trend. The market research report says that the global RTD cocktail market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 15.1 percent from 2022 to 2028. India is also keeping up with the growth of the RTD cocktail market and India’s RTD cocktail market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.3 percent between 2021 and 2026.
In a country experiencing impressive growth of alcoholic ready-to-drink segment, this recent funding boost can be very much conducive to the growth and diversification of O’Be Cocktails brand.
