Mithila Foods Secures Rs 1.5 Crore Seed Funding to Bring Bihar’s Culinary Heritage to Indian Homes
Mithila Foods, a new FMCG started in the heart of Bihar’s food culture, has closed Rs 1.5 crore seed funding round from AJVC, the investment firm established by the renowned venture capitalist Aviral Bhatnagar. The funding is a significant development for the young business as it makes strides to grow the business and secure its position amongst other national players in the regional food products space.
Reinvention of Tradition through Contemporary Business
Mithila Foods is a startup with one goal in mind: to take the food staples of Bihar into homes across India. The company was started in January 2025 by entrepreneurs Shubham Sunderka, Ankit Kumar, and Anshu Kumar. Mithila Foods offers everyday foods such as sattu, roasted chana, makhana, and katarni chuda—foods that have been eaten in Bihar for generations. Although these staples are commonplace for Biharis and other surrounding communities, Mithila Foods sees a growing gap in the market for urban consumers who prefer healthier food options that are high in protein and traditional in nature.
As the founders say, the company is built on a premise that is not purely based on products, but instead to preserve and evoke culture via food. At the same time, Mithila Foods mission is to bring the same level of attention to Bihar’s culinary offerings as what is afforded to dishes like Undhio, Sarson da Saag, or fishing in Kerala.
Early Growth and Market Extension
Mithila Foods, despite being less than 5 months old, with managed are going on a strong run. It has just reported an annualized revenue of 3 crore Rs, while also building up a portfolio of over 20 SKUs and attracting 25,000+ buyers from 4000 pin codes.
The start-up’s journey began from a small rented warehouse in Dumka but quickly scaled it up all across India, mainly using the e-commerce platforms like Amazon & Flipkart, and connecting with the offline retail networks of tier-1 & tier-2 cities of India.
This approach has enabled the company to reach two opposite consumer bases in Bihar, the nostalgic consumer base reconnecting with cultural heritage, and the health-conscious urban audience looking for authentic, traditional and healthy foods. Products like sattu and makhana have been categorized as “superfoods” because of their high nutritional value and versatile nature, providing the opportunity for Mithila Foods to brand itself as a health-conscious and culturally grounded brand.
How the Funds will be Used by Mithila Foods
Mithila Foods plans to use the new investment of Rs 1.5 crore to build distribution networks, develop supply chains and initiate products that reflect Bihar’s culinary tradition. Mithila Foods will be launching new product categories focused on Bihar cuisine with local finger foods that could be packaged, ready-to-eat food mixes and health foods with local grains and pulses.
Another area of investment will be in branding and marketing to help build the identity of Mithila Foods in FMCG. The founders want to build a brand that embodies the story of Bihar’s culinary heritage, creates an emotional link with consumers, and communicates the health benefits of their food.
Supporting AJVC
For AJVC, Mithila Foods has been both a great business opportunity as well a way to support entrepreneurs from historically underrepresented areas of the country. The investment firm has a strategy of deploying Rs 1.5 crore in exchange for 9 percent equity ownership in an early-stage start-up. With this latest funding round, AJVC has now supported nine start-ups across AI, B2B, consumer brands, and consumer tech.
They closed their first Rs 100 crore fund in March 2025, with a mandate to support pre-seed ventures across India, and especially ventures that come from areas that traditional investors shy away from like states in the North-east, like Assam, and states like Jharkhand and Bihar.
In supporting Mithila Foods, AJVC is betting on the future of regional FMCG but also betting on the success of start-ups that are coming from outside of the traditional start-up hubs such as Bengaluru, Delhi, and Mumbai.
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