Funding story

The health food sector is growing rapidly, with rising health-related concerns of the general public driving a demand for healthy meals. One of the biggest developments in this regard is the raising of an undisclosed amount of funding by Bengaluru-based consumer health startup Jiyo Natural, from Indian Angel Network (IAN). Investors Rajiv Mehta and Sumit Dhingra, who participated in this round, will join the startup. The raised funding is expected to be used to expand the startup’s reach to a number of cities including Mumbai, Pune, Delhi NCR, Chennai, etc.

Jiyo Health’s products

Jiyo Natural was founded by Jayas Damodaran and Sharan Hiremath in May 2014. Unlike many other healthcare startups, Jiyo Natural focuses upon the scientific personalization of the meals which it offers. Thus, specific diets are made to suit an individual’s requirements/ailments, which are ascertained by Jiyo Natural Doctors after evaluating the person’s essentials. These personalized, healthy meals can be delivered either to the customer’s office or his home. Jiyo Natural’s foods also contain no trans fats, excess calories, artificial colours or flavours, and provide a well-balanced, nutritional alternative to the numerous damaging meals which many people are finding hard to avoid these days. The startup’s “Jiyo Health” programme makes the balanced meals, with “Jiyo Manage” focusing on the personalisation aspect.
Jiyo Health’s meals also have a strong regional flavor, with an emphasis on traditional products being grown by small farmers, who are benefited through the startup’s “Plantation to Plate” outlook.

Jiyo Natural’s competitors and prospects

Jiyo Natural claims an annual growth of 10-15%. Its main competitors are Dial-a-Diet, Grubit and Truweight. Jiyo Natural’s expansion plans, including its decision to start producing health drinks and snack bars are all set to give it a large share of the highly competitive niche meals market.