India cloud kitchen player Rebel Foods raises $175m

The round – which also featured existing investors Coatue Management and Evolvence Capital – makes Rebel Foods the 31st Indian company to achieve unicorn status in 2021, according to local media. Online fresh produce retailer Licious and crypto exchange Coinswitch Kuber have also reached this landmark in recent days.

Early and growth-stage investment in India’s technology sector has already surpassed $25 billion in 2021, more than the previous two years combined. The emergence of domestic IPOs as a liquidity channel for pre-profit start-ups and the strong performance by these companies coming out of COVID-19 are seen as key contributing factors.

Rebel Foods was founded in 2011 as Faasos, a quick-service restaurant chain. After four years, the company found that 70% of customers had never set foot in one of its restaurants, with online orders driving business. It duly pivoted to a multi-brand cloud kitchen model, which is more economically efficient because there is no need for prime locations and customer-facing infrastructure.

Rebel Foods now has 45 brands, including Faasos, Mandarin Oak, Sweet Truth, Behrouz, Oven Story, The Good Bowl, and Firangi Bake. Some brands are run in partnerships with third parties that rely on Rebel Foods to prepare food exclusively for delivery. The company claims a network of more than 4,000 so-called “internet restaurants” served by hundreds of kitchens across 10 markets.

In addition to India, Rebel Foods is present in Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, the UK, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Bangladesh. The new capital will support expansion of this international footprint, brand acquisitions, and investment in technology. CFO Piyush Kakkad said the company is working towards an IPO in the next 18-24 months.

“The food-tech space has evolved towards better personalization, innovation, and complete transparency which Rebel Foods continues to pioneer,” added Ravi Golani, the chief strategy officer.

“We are excited to welcome QIA, which has a track record of being a long-term supportive investor. With this round of funding, we will continue to serve newer customer food missions powered by technology and automation.”

Sequoia Capital India became the first institutional investor in Rebel Foods in 2011 when it committed $5 million, AVCJ Research’s records show. The company raised $50 million across two rounds in 2015 from Sequoia, Lightbox Ventures, and RuNet. They re-upped in smaller rounds in 2017 and 2018, joined by RB Investments.

Venture debt specialist Alteria Capital provided INR300 million ($4.3 million) in early 2019, shortly before a INR1.1 billion round from Evolvence, Lightbox, and Sequoia. This was part of a larger Series D round that also included $125 million from Coatue, Go Ventures, and Goldman Sachs. Last year, Coatue contributed another $50 million.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Consumer
• Technology
• Expansion
• India
• Evolvence Capital
• Coatue Management
• TMT
• QIA