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Sorry Sugar, a Gurugram-based clean-label beverage startup, has raised $1 million in its first seed round. The funding was led by the Dhanuka family and Amishi London, and comes at an early but important stage for the young consumer brand.
The company is taking aim at a simple habit – choosing a café-style drink without added sugar or artificial sweeteners. Its products use monk fruit for sweetness and currently include coffee-led flavours such as Hazel Almond Latte, Silk Chocolate Mocha, and Sea Salt Caramel.
What Sorry Sugar is trying to build
Sorry Sugar was founded in 2026 by Deepak Pathak, Kunal Verma, Shashank Sherawat, and Saiyam Malik.
The founders are building a beverage brand around the idea that a lower-sugar drink should still taste enjoyable.
That is a harder task than it sounds. Many consumers are willing to reduce sugar, but few will keep buying a drink that feels like a compromise. Taste, texture, price, packaging, and availability all matter just as much as the ingredient list.
For example, someone picking up an iced coffee on the way to work may want a familiar café experience but may not want a drink with added sugar. Sorry Sugar wants to offer that middle path through ready-to-drink beverages, kiosks, and products sold online.
Why the startup needs fresh funding
Consumer beverage brands need money long before they become widely known. They must develop products, secure ingredients, manage packaging, build distribution, support delivery, and persuade customers to try something new.
Sorry Sugar plans to use the seed funding to expand its online and offline presence across North India and speed up new product launches. The company currently operates three offline stores in Gurugram and Delhi, while also selling through direct-to-consumer and quick-commerce channels.
The brand has said it crossed Rs. 1 crore in revenue in its first month of operations and is targeting annual recurring revenue of more than Rs. 60 crore by the end of the current financial year. These are company-reported figures, so the real test will be whether repeat purchases grow as the business reaches more customers.
The bigger aim behind the brand
Sorry Sugar is not positioning itself only as a coffee business. It wants to create a wider zero-added-sugar food and beverage range. The company is preparing to enter desserts with monk-fruit-sweetened gelatos.
This expansion makes sense from a brand point of view. A customer who enjoys a lower-sugar coffee could be open to trying a dessert from the same company. However, it also increases the challenge. Every new category needs its own product quality, cold-chain planning, and retail strategy.
The startup’s larger bet is that Indian consumers will pay attention to labels without giving up the small pleasures that make a drink or dessert appealing.
Competition in the clean-label beverage space
Sorry Sugar will face competition from major beverage companies, local coffee chains, and newer brands trying to offer lower-sugar or ingredient-conscious products. The Sweet Change, for example, sells clean-label sugar alternatives made with ingredients such as monk fruit and allulose.
The businesses are not identical. Sorry Sugar sells finished beverages, while The Sweet Change focuses on sugar alternatives. Still, both are trying to win over consumers who want more control over sweetness and ingredients.
Key takeaways –
Sorry Sugar’s $1 million seed round gives the startup capital to build distribution, launch products, and test whether its zero-added-sugar promise can create repeat demand.
The founders have chosen a crowded category, but they are targeting a clear gap – drinks that feel indulgent without relying on added sugar. The next phase will depend on product taste, affordable pricing, and whether the brand can become part of consumers’ daily routines.
Facts Input and Image Credit- ET Retail
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