Lickicious Raised ₹19 Crore. The Smart Part Is How It Split Equity and Debt

A one-year-old pet food brand just raised ₹19 crore. The interesting part is that it did not raise all of it as equity.

Lickicious, founded in 2024, took a mix of equity and institutional debt. Prath Ventures led the equity. The debt funds the unglamorous half, a 60,000 square foot factory and the inventory to fill it.

That split is a decision most founders make too late. Lickicious made it early.

A blend, not just a round

The headline number is ₹19 crore, announced in September 2026. What sits underneath it is the more useful part.

The round was a combination of equity and institutional debt. Prath Ventures led it, with ISV Capital, founded by the founders of Atomberg, and a group of senior executives joining. The company that owns the Lickicious brand, Nuvexo Wellness, sells dry and wet food, treats, fresh food, supplements and nutritional toppers for dogs and cats, through its own website, Amazon, Flipkart and the pet care platform Supertails. Its founders, Shashwat Sahai and Chandan Jha, have set a target of ₹100 crore in annual revenue.

One caveat matters before going further. Lickicious did not disclose how the ₹19 crore splits between equity and debt, and it did not name the lender or its current revenue. So this is not a story about a specific number. It is a story about a specific choice, to fund a capital-heavy business with more than one instrument rather than defaulting to equity for all of it.

Why put debt against a factory

The logic of the blend is visible in what the money is for.

A pet food brand at this stage is really two businesses wearing one name. One is a brand and product company, deciding what goes in the bag, building demand, testing new categories. The other is a small manufacturer, running a 60,000 square foot facility, buying equipment, and holding inventory to serve orders across marketplaces.

Those two businesses want different money. The brand and category work is uncertain and its payoff is years out, which is equity risk, the kind of bet owners take. The factory, the machines and the inventory are predictable, tangible and productive from the day they are installed. That is exactly what debt is built for. It is patient, it does not dilute, and its cost is lower than the cost of selling equity to fund the same bricks.

Figure 1: How the equity and the debt map to two different kinds of need

Read the deployment plan and you can see the reasoning. The capital goes toward capacity, a manufacturing and distribution facility, toward capability across R&D, quality, supply chain and brand, and toward category expansion. The asset-heavy, predictable parts are the natural home for the debt. The uncertain, growth parts are the natural home for the equity. Splitting the raise along that line means the founders sold less of the company than an all-equity round would have cost them.

The unusual part: doing it this early

There is something genuinely early about this, and it is worth being honest about.

A company founded in 2024 is very young to be taking institutional debt. Lenders usually want a track record, a few years of revenue they can underwrite, before they put debt against a business. That Lickicious has institutional debt in the round at all suggests the debt is closely tied to the equity, the kind of venture-linked facility that rides alongside a strong lead investor rather than a facility underwritten purely on the company's own cash flows.

That is not a criticism. It is the correct instrument for the stage. A brand this young does not yet have the steady, provable revenue that a pure revenue-based lender would underwrite. What it has is a credible lead investor and a clear, asset-backed use for the money, which is enough to attach some debt to the round and reduce the dilution. The instinct, do not sell equity for the whole of a capital-heavy build, is exactly right. The form the debt takes will change as the company grows.

What the money builds

Three things, in the company's own framing.

Capacity is the 60,000 square foot manufacturing and distribution facility, the physical base for the ₹100 crore target. Capability is the less visible investment, in research and development, quality, supply chain, brand and commercial teams, the machinery of a company that intends to last. Category expansion is the growth bet, new products and new sales channels beyond the current range.

Figure 2: Three deployment areas, each with a natural instrument

Notice how cleanly those three map onto the two instruments. Capacity is asset-backed and debt-friendly. Category expansion is a growth bet and equity-friendly. Capability sits in between, part fixed investment, part uncertain return. A founder who can see which bucket a rupee belongs in raises that rupee in the cheapest form available for it. That, more than the ₹19 crore, is the thing worth copying.

Where a bridge actually fits

It would be easy to turn this into a pitch. It is more useful to be precise about where an instrument like ours does and does not fit a company like Lickicious today.

Right now, Lickicious is early. Its debt is best raised the way it appears to have been raised, tied to a strong equity round, because the company does not yet have the years of predictable revenue that a revenue-underwritten facility needs. A pure structured-credit bridge is not the tool for a brand still building its first large factory. On that, we would wait, not lend, and that is the honest answer.

Figure 3: A blend does not end. It adds the right debt as revenue becomes underwritable.

Where the tool does fit is a little further along the same road. Once a brand like this is doing real, repeatable revenue on the way to ₹100 crore, the needs change shape. A large purchase order to fund before the retailer pays. An inventory build before a festive season. A receivable from a marketplace that is certain but sixty days out. A gap before the next equity round that you do not want to close by diluting at a soft valuation. Those are bounded, repayable, revenue-backed needs, and they are exactly what a bridge is for. The blend Lickicious started with does not end. It just adds a new instrument as the revenue becomes underwritable.

The through-line is the same one Lickicious has already grasped. Match the instrument to the need. It is the same discipline whether the raise is ₹19 crore or ten thousand times that.

What we can say from our own desk

Three things we see directly.

Speed is the point of a bridge. Where a facility is arranged, it moves in 48 to 72 hours, with funds typically reaching the company's primary treasury by Day 4. A brand timing an inventory build or a purchase order does not have a quarter to wait.

The most common reason a company is declined is that its revenue is too small or too unpredictable to service repayment in a flat case. A very young brand often is not there yet, and that is fine. The instrument follows the revenue.

The companies this suits sit across manufacturing and industrials, D2C and consumer, SaaS and technology, and services. What they share is not a sector. It is revenue you can underwrite and a need with a beginning and an end.

One number we do not publish, because we will not estimate it. Out of the last 100 enquiries we received, the count that resulted in a funded facility depends on the revenue quality behind them, and we would rather leave the figure open than print one we cannot stand behind.

Key takeaways

• Lickicious, a pet food brand founded in 2024, raised ₹19 crore in September 2026 as a blend of equity and institutional debt, led by Prath Ventures. The equity-versus-debt split, the lender and the company's revenue were not disclosed.
• The blend follows the shape of the business. A 60,000 square foot factory and its inventory are asset-backed and predictable, which suits debt. The brand and category bets are uncertain and long-dated, which suits equity. Splitting the raise along that line reduces dilution.
• Taking institutional debt at one year old is early, and the debt is most likely tied to the equity round rather than underwritten on the company's own cash flows. That is the right instrument for the stage, not a weakness.
• The lesson scales. Match the instrument to the need. A revenue-underwritten bridge does not fit a brand still building its first factory, but it fits the same company later, once the revenue on the way to ₹100 crore is real and repeatable.

Frequently asked questions

How much did Lickicious raise, and from whom?

Lickicious raised ₹19 crore in September 2026, in a round led by Prath Ventures, with ISV Capital and senior executives participating. It was a combination of equity and institutional debt. The company did not disclose the split between the two, the debt provider, its valuation, or its current revenue.

Why did Lickicious raise debt as well as equity?

Because a capital-heavy business has two kinds of need. A factory, equipment and inventory are predictable and asset-backed, which debt funds cheaply without diluting. Brand building and new categories are uncertain growth bets, which suit equity. Splitting the raise along that line means selling less of the company than an all-equity round would.

Is it unusual for a 2024 company to take institutional debt?

Yes, somewhat. Lenders usually want a few years of revenue to underwrite before extending debt. At one year old, Lickicious's debt is most likely tied to its equity round, a venture-linked facility riding on a strong lead investor, rather than debt underwritten purely on its own cash flows. That is appropriate for the stage.

What will Lickicious use the money for?

Three things, in its own framing. Capacity, a 60,000 square foot manufacturing and distribution facility. Capability, investment in research and development, quality, supply chain, brand and commercial teams. And category expansion, new products and sales channels. The company is targeting ₹100 crore in annual revenue.

When would a bridge facility fit a company like this?

Not while it is still building its first large factory, because it lacks the predictable revenue a bridge is underwritten against. Later, once revenue is real and repeatable, bounded needs appear, funding a purchase order, an inventory build, or a receivable, or bridging a gap before the next equity round. Those are what a bridge is built for.

Ready to think about the split?

If you are planning a raise and trying to work out how much should be equity and how much can be debt, that decision is worth getting right before you sign a term sheet. Our guide to bridge financing, venture debt and a bank overdraft walks through which instrument fits which need. Start with the shape of the money you actually need, not the size of the headline round.

About Debtsify

Debtsify is a private structured-credit and bridge-financing partner for high-growth Indian companies. It arranges ₹5 Cr to ₹100 Cr in 48 to 72 hours, 100% non-dilutive, with no equity, warrants, board seats, or collateral. It is not a bank, an NBFC-marketplace, or a loan aggregator. It is a capital partner.

This article is for information only. It is not investment, legal or financial advice, and it is not an offer of any facility. Figures on Zepto are drawn from press reporting of the company's filings and from named sources, are attributed with dates in the source notes, and should be verified against primary filings before any decision. Valuations, rates and outcomes change.