The Dough Therapy Raises ₹5.25 Crore in Seed Funding, Plans to Double to 20 Outlets

Mumbai gourmet pizza brand The Dough Therapy has raised ₹5.25 crore at a company valuation of ₹35 crore in its first institutional seed funding round. The round was led by Michigan Capital Advisors Ltd. (MCAL), formerly known as Melwani Finance Limited, with participation from Equiglobe Investment Pvt. Ltd.

The brand plans to grow from 10 to 20 outlets over the next 12 months, expanding in Mumbai and taking its offering to new cities across India. The funds will be allocated 60% to expansion, 15% to marketing and 25% to supply chain infrastructure, centralised operations and kitchen technology.

The Dough Therapy was founded in November 2020 by three friends, Abhishek Dedhia, Mohit Chheda and Gaurav Majrekar, with a single outlet in Mumbai. The idea was to approach vegetarian pizza with the same ambition, indulgence and attention to flavour as any gourmet offering. Its menu now lists more than 30 varieties of 100% vegetarian and vegan pizzas.

Rather than a one-size-fits-all model, the brand will combine its own outlets with select dine-in formats and franchise partnerships. It says this will let it grow its footprint while staying close to the product, quality and experience that built its customer base.

“From the beginning, our focus, along with my co-founders Mohit Chheda and Gaurav Majrekar, has been to build The Dough Therapy around the food, the customer, and the experience, and to create a brand that could grow without losing what made it special in the first place. This investment is an important milestone for us because it gives us the opportunity to take that vision to a much larger scale. Also, Raghav Chaudhary, Founder of Tiger Assets, deserves a special mention for making this happen by visualising the potential in our business and bringing the right investors together for our future plans. With their backing, we are ready to move from building our presence in Mumbai to creating a much larger, multi-market brand,” said Abhishek Dedhia, Founder, The Dough Therapy.