New Delhi, June 30 -- Henfruit, a farm-to-fork clean egg company, is in advanced talks to raise its maiden funding round from investors, according to four people aware of the matter.

The Haryana-based firm, founded in 2014 by Tarun Gupta, offers washed and sanitised eggs from its 20 contractual family farms. According to the Henfruit website, the firm's eggs are free from antibiotics, steroids and hormones and include a traceability feature.

Three of the four sources said the bootstrapped firm is now in the advanced stages of raising around Rs 100-150 crore (around $10.6-16 million) in its maiden funding round.

Consumer-focussed venture capital firm DSG Consumer Partners, India-focussed private equity firm Lok Capital and the private investment office of the Harsh Mariwala family Sharrp Ventures are among the investors in talks to invest in the firm, they said.

Another person close to the development said that while several investors have shown interest, talks are not yet finalised and will take another couple of months to conclude.

The firm will use funds to widen its farm cluster and increase production capacity. The capital will also be used to improve its qualitative checks, the person added.

Henfruit, DSG Consumer, and Sharrp Ventures did not reply to VCCircle's queries regarding the fundraise. Lok Capital refused to comment on the topic.

Building on quick commerce

Henfruit started as a supplier to large retail chains; however, it pivoted its business to the quick commerce channel following the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently, modern trade forms a negligible part of its business, with quick commerce driving the bulk of revenues.

It currently supplies eggs in most Tier I cities such as Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, parts of Punjab and Kolkata. It operates out of two clusters of family farms near Chandigarh and Hyderabad.

Henfruit sells around 1.3-1.4 million eggs per day from these farms.

In FY26, Henfruit's revenues hit Rs 210 crore, compared with Rs 137 crore the previous year, the person said. The firm has been operationally profitable since inception, with the FY26 EBITDA margin at around 5-5.5% compared with around 4% the year before.

The quality of eggs has been a major topic of discussion since last December, when a social media channel claimed that another egg brand's eggs contained traces of banned antibiotics and carcinogenic substances.

Following the accusations, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) launched a pan-India drive to test both branded and non-branded eggs for pesticide and heavy metal residues. The FSSAI concluded that the eggs were safe for consumption and dismissed claims about carcinogenic substances.

Henfruit makes up approximately 15% of the organised egg market.

The egg market in India is highly fragmented and largely unorganised. According to industry estimates, loose or unbranded eggs account for around 95% of purchases in the Rs 90,000-100,000 crore market.

However, supply chain management is one of the key challenges egg firms continually face as they grapple with damaged eggs by delivery agents and the shorter shelf-life during hot summer months.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.