Nestle, others stake stake in snack maker Yoga Bar

Nestle India has done due diligence, and further talks are on, said one of the three, requesting anonymity.

Backed by venture capital funds such as Elevation Capital and Fireside Ventures, the yoga bar is being valued approx. 450-500 crores, said the second person cited above. “The company is also in talks with private equity firms to raise primary capital of around $20-25 million. Discussions are going on at present,” the person said.

Maggi noodles and Nescafe coffee maker Nestle is eyeing small deals in the health and supplements space. While some of its rivals have been growing their portfolios through acquisitions, the Swiss firm hasn’t made any big deals in India recently. However, in July, it acquired Purina Petcare India’s pet food business. 123.5 crores. SproutLife Foods Pvt. Ltd., the parent of Yoga Bar, the third person said, has held talks with several consumer firms for a strategic transaction, but a deal fell through due to differences on valuation.

While a Yoga Bar spokesperson termed the development “incorrect”, an email query to Nestle India remained unanswered till press time.

SproutLife, founded in 2014 by sisters Suhasini Sampath and Anindita, first raised funds from Fireside Ventures in 2015. The venture capital firm co-founded by Kanwaljit Singh, former co-founder of Helion Ventures, invested $3.3 million in startups from 2015 to 2018. According to VCCircle’s data and intelligence platform VCCEdge. Elevation joined Fireside in August 2020 in Yoga Bar’s final equity fundraise, Series C round.

In addition to protein bars and muesli, the company also sells peanut butter, whey protein and gluten-free oats.

In June, in its first acquisition, SproutLife bought SuperHealthy, a nutrition-based food company that specializes in premium nuts, seeds and trail mixes.

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