This little online tea retailer just received a million dollar funding. Know why

For many of us “tea acts like a magical key for vault where our brain is kept,” and perhaps this perception must have inspired Kushal Dugar, a former KPMG executive, to come up with the concept of Teabox, an online tea retailer. Started in 2012, this Siliguri-based e-tailer has now secured about Rs 40 crore ($6 million) in Series A funding from a clutch of venture capital firms, which includes JAFCO Asia, Keystone Group and Dragoneer Investment reveals an ET report.

According to Kushal Dugar, Teabox founder, "We are looking to invest in the cold storage facilities in close proximity to the plantations in Darjeeling, Guwahati and Nilgiri - the three prime tea plantation regions in the country ," Dugar told ET. And in the next two months, Teabix plans to hire 40 to 60 people, he revealed.

Teabox has a separate technology and marketing team based in Bengaluru, which helps the e-tailer to carry out a smooth selling process online to cater its customers in 75 countries. This online tea seller sources tea from more than 200 plantations in India, the financial daily added.

"Teabox's disruptive business model is highly scalable and allows complete control of the customer experience. JAFCO's expertise across different markets will add significant value to Teabox in the coming months," Supriya Singh, an associate director at JAFCO, told ET.

American billionaire Robert M Bass, chairman of Aerion Corporation which is an American aerospace, also played a major role in this funding. He said, "I am a longtime tea drinker and first discovered Teabox as a customer. The superior quality of the company's product and its innovative approach to sourcing, marketing, and distribution has made us a partner with them."
(Image: Teabox)