Sugar-Free Gelato Brand SORRY SUGAR Raises $1 Million Seed Round

SORRY SUGAR, a direct-to-consumer dessert brand built around sugar-free gelato and frozen desserts, has raised $1 million in its first seed round led by the Dhanuka family and Amishi London, the company announced on September 8, 2026. The startup plans to use the capital to expand its retail and online presence across North India while accelerating new product launches, including a line of monk-fruit-sweetened gelatos marketed as having zero added sugar.

The brand is positioned within a growing category of health-oriented indulgence products, targeting consumers who want dessert experiences without the sugar content typically associated with ice cream and gelato. Monk fruit, a natural sweetener increasingly used as an alternative to both sugar and artificial sweeteners, has gained traction among health-conscious food brands globally for its ability to deliver sweetness without the glycaemic impact of traditional sugar, making it attractive to consumers managing diabetes, weight or general dietary preferences.

India's better-for-you food and beverage segment has expanded rapidly over the past three years, driven by rising urban health consciousness, increasing diabetes prevalence, and a broader consumer shift toward labelled, functional food products. Startups operating in this space have increasingly found willing investors among family offices and angel networks with consumer-brand experience, who see health-positioned indulgence categories — desserts, snacks and beverages reformulated with lower sugar or functional ingredients — as a durable long-term consumer trend rather than a passing niche.

For SORRY SUGAR, the seed round provides capital to scale beyond its initial market presence, with North India expansion cited as the immediate priority ahead of consideration for other regions. The company's plan to expand both online and offline distribution channels reflects a common early-stage strategy among Indian D2C food brands: building initial brand credibility and customer loyalty through direct online sales before pursuing broader retail and quick-commerce partnerships that require higher volume and operational scale.

The involvement of Amishi London, alongside the Dhanuka family, brings both consumer-brand and cross-border commercial perspective to the cap table — a combination increasingly common among Indian D2C seed rounds as founders seek investors who can offer not just capital but category expertise in areas such as product formulation, retail partnerships and brand positioning.

As India's frozen dessert and ice cream market continues to modernise, with organised players gradually gaining share from unbranded and regional operators, health-focused entrants like SORRY SUGAR are betting that the next wave of category growth will come from consumers who have historically avoided traditional desserts altogether, rather than simply competing for existing ice-cream spend. Whether that thesis holds at scale will depend heavily on the brand's ability to match taste and texture expectations while maintaining its sugar-free positioning — historically one of the hardest trade-offs in reformulated dessert products.