Broadband
Excitel raises $11.5 million equity from EU investors
Mumbai: Fibre broadband service provider Excitel has raised $11.5 million in equity from existing and new tech investors based out of Europe.
“From a current subscriber base of 0.7 million, Excitel aims to increase its customer base to 10 million while also expanding operations to 100 cities by end of 2022,” said the statement.
Excitel will also make significant investments to enhance its technology stack as well as its customer experience along with foraying into newer markets, Excitel has expanded its operations to Mumbai and the Western region in Q1 FY23 to provide fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) services at competitive prices. Excitel will also invest towards onboarding talent to strengthen operational and technical capabilities.
“Excitel has established itself as a brand that is helping bridge the digital divide by providing world-class FTTH services at affordable rates across the country,” said Excitel CEO and co-founder Vivek Raina. “This year we are fixated on establishing ourselves in newer geographies, extending futuristic tech solutions while at the same time working towards hiring our next rung of leaders to create an ecosystem that sales rapidly. The fresh round of liquidity that we have raised from existing and new investors will go a long way in helping the brand’s journey to becoming the leading internet service provider in the country.”
The company recently announced the launch of its services in Mumbai and will expand to Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, and other cities by offering high-speed internet with quick service resolution. The company will not only cater to structured areas but also provide services to the unstructured areas of the city.
Broadband
Zoff Foods extends Shilpa Shetty partnership into ninth year
Spice brand reinforces trust-led positioning amid growth and funding push.
MUMBAI: Nine years, one flavour and the recipe clearly still works. Zoff Foods has extended its long-running association with Shilpa Shetty, marking nine consecutive years of her as brand ambassador as the company scales its presence across Indian households. What began as a digital-first collaboration has gradually evolved into a defining element of the brand’s identity. Over nearly a decade, the partnership has mirrored Zoff’s own journey from an emerging challenger to a fast-growing FMCG player with a widening footprint across e-commerce, quick commerce and offline retail channels.
The logic behind the continuity is straightforward. In a category where trust and familiarity drive purchase decisions, particularly in spices and ready-to-cook segments, long-term associations tend to carry more weight than short bursts of visibility. Shetty’s positioning as a fitness-conscious, health-aware public figure aligns with the brand’s emphasis on purity and quality factors that are increasingly shaping consumer choices in modern Indian kitchens.
The extension also comes at a time when Zoff Foods is entering a more aggressive growth phase. The company recently raised $2 million in a Pre-Series B funding round led by JM Financial Private Equity, with participation from Aman Gupta, signalling a push towards expanding distribution, product innovation and market reach.
Company executives have positioned the continued partnership as a strategic anchor amid this expansion, reinforcing brand recall while entering new markets. For Shetty, the association remains rooted in shared values around authenticity and ingredient integrity attributes that resonate strongly with increasingly mindful consumers.
In a market crowded with new-age brands and shifting loyalties, Zoff’s approach suggests a different playbook: build slowly, stay consistent, and let familiarity do the heavy lifting. Because sometimes, in both branding and cooking, it’s not about reinventing the dish, it’s about perfecting it over time.
