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Milk Mantra

Milk Mantra is an Indian dairy foods company based in Odisha. Founded in August 2009 by Srikumar Misra and cofounded by Rashima Misra and Lt Col Ashit Mahapatra, the company became operational in 2012.[3][4]

In January 2025, Milk Mantra and its Milky Moo brand were acquired by Hatsun Agro Product Ltd (HAP) for ₹233 crore.[5]

History

Milk Mantra was founded in August 2009 by Srikumar Misra, a former executive with Tata Group, Rashima Misra and Lt Col Ashit Mahapatra.[1] In 2011, it received its first series of investments from VC firms Eight Roads Ventures, Aavishkaar Venture Management Services and angel investors.[1][6] The company started its operations in early 2012 with the commissioning of a factory in Gop, Odisha.[7][8]

As of 2016, it sources its milk from over 70,000 farmers in the state of Odisha, called the Ethical Milk Sourcing (EMS) programme.[9][10]

In 2017, it raised $10 million funding from Neev Fund and other investors.[11]

In 2020, Milk Mantra raised US$10 million debt funding from US DFC.[12][13] It also received technical assistance grant of US$350,000.[14][15]

In 2021, the company launched its own D2C dairy & subscription app DailyMoo.[16]

Products

Milk Mantra manufactures and sells dairy products[17] like buttermilk, curd, probiotic yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, milkshakes, dairy based desserts and other beverages under the brand Milky Moo.[8]

Under the brand Moo Shake, the company also manufactures and sells flavored milkshakes[18][19][20] and a beverage which is blended with curcumin.[21][22]

Production

Milk Mantra has its main processing plant at Gop in Puri city of Odisha. It has a processing capacity of 2,40,000 liters of milk per day. It also has a plant in the neighbouring Sambalpur which can process 90,000 liters per day.[23]

Honors

  • Fast Company 10 most innovative Asia-Pacific companies of 2021[24] and most innovative companies of 2020 in India[25]
  • 2019 McNulty Prize[26]
  • 2016 Frost & Sullivan Awards for Product of the Year for MooShake[27][28]

External links

References

  1. Aavishkaar Picks Up A Significant Minority Stake In Milk Mantra VCCircle, 1 February 2011^
  2. Dairy Startup Milk Mantra Sees Bigger Market Share in Eastern India www.bloomberg.com, 21 July 2021^
  3. Bill Spindle. A Milk Startup Takes On 300 Million Cows Wall Street Journal, 7 July 2018^
  4. Ajita Shashidhar. BT Buzz: Regional companies outpacing dairy majors in India Business Today, 27 June 2019^
  5. Shine Jacob. Hatsun Agro acquires Milk Mantra for Rs 233 cr to expand in East India Business Standard, 28 January 2025^
  6. Ilya A. Strebulaev, Justin Randolph. VC Decision-Making in India: Aavishkaar and Milk Mantra (A) Stanford Graduate School of Business^
  7. Business Leader Award to Milk Mantra Founder Srikumar Misra Odisha News Insight, 7 September 2015^
  8. Milk Mantra: Unsettling The Dairy Biggies With Premium Play Forbes India^
  9. British team hails milk supply chain The Indian Express^
  10. Pandit, Virendra. Odisha-based Milk Mantra targets ₹1,000-crore revenue in four years Business Line, June 16, 2016, retrieved July 1, 2016^
  11. Biswarup Gooptu. Neev Fund, others pour Rs 66.5 crore into Odisha-based Milk Mantra The Economic Times^
  12. India's Milk Mantra secures $10M from US International Development Finance Corporation TechCrunch, 19 June 2020^
  13. Jayajit Dash. Milk Mantra raises $10 million from US-based DFC, gets tech package too Business Standard India, 19 June 2020^
  14. Milk Mantra Secures $10 Mn Debt From International Development Finance Corporation Inc42 Media, 20 June 2020^
  15. Biswarup Gooptu. Milk Mantra scoops up $10 million in debt financing from US-backed DFC The Economic Times^
  16. ARNIKA THAKUR. Milk Mantra wants to target Rs 1000 crore revenue in five years www.fortuneindia.com, 11 July 2021^
  17. We Want To Transform India's Food Value Chain: Srikumar Misra Of Milk Mantra Moneycontrol^
  18. Rajiv Singh. Start-up Milk Mantra churns Rs 120 cr in 4 years, compelling Raghuram Rajan to take notice The Economic Times^
  19. Milk firms mantra to extend shelf life News18, 19 February 2012^
  20. Odisha start-up launches innovative milkshake The Hindu, 21 August 2015^
  21. Peerzada Abrar. Dairy farms employ tech to ramp up production, offer milk that's pure Business Standard India, 9 January 2019^
  22. Ranjan Mishra, Bibhu. Milk Mantra, Odisha based dairy product start-up, makes national foray Business Standard India, Business Standard, June 7, 2015, retrieved July 1, 2016^
  23. Milk Mantra to ramp up capacity Business Standard India, 21 August 2015^
  24. The 10 most innovative Asia-Pacific companies of 2021 Fast Company, 9 March 2021^
  25. The most innovative companies of 2020 in India Fast Company, 10 March 2020^
  26. Through sustainable dairy farming, Milk Mantra is McNulty Foundation, 11 August 2021^
  27. Milk Mantra bags Frost & Sullivan's New Product Launch of the Year Award Agritimes.co.in^
  28. The toast of Odisha www.fortuneindia.com, 10 May 2016^