Hocco, a prominent ice cream brand, has successfully raised Rs 100 crore (approximately $12 million) in a fundraising round led by its promoter group, the Chona family, and existing investor Sauce VC. According to a report by the Economic Times, this investment round values the company at Rs 600 crore and saw contributions from notable angel investors, including film producers Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar.
Ankit Chona, the managing director of Hocco, revealed to the Economic Times that the newly raised funds would be channeled towards expanding the company’s manufacturing capacity. The brand projects to generate sales of Rs 200 crore for the fiscal year ending in March 2025.
Hocco’s journey began in 1994 when Satish Chona founded an ice cream parlor in Karachi. The Chona family later sold their legacy brand, Havmor, to South Korean company Lotte for Rs 1,020 crore in 2017. Hocco, also known as House of Chonas, was launched in 2019, expanding their longstanding food service enterprise. Sauce VC, an early-stage consumer VC fund, now holds around a 10 percent stake in Hocco. The fund has previously backed successful brands like The Whole Truth, Mokobara, and Supertails.
According to Hocco’s corporate website, the brand gained significant popularity in 2023, establishing over 100 stores across India. Hocco also marked its entry into the US market with the opening of its first quick-service restaurant (QSR) in Virginia.
“Currently, our plant capacity is between 40,000 and 50,000 liters a day, and our original projection by May was 15,000 liters. By next summer, we will triple our capacity, reaching 1.3 lakh liters a day,” Ankit Chona stated to the Economic Times.
The company is keen on leveraging quick commerce to expand its presence beyond Gujarat. Plans are underway to venture into Delhi, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan. “The way we plan to do that is to penetrate deeper into Gujarat and expand into nearby geographies. Before next summer, we will launch in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Delhi-NCR,” Chona added.