Shared cloud-kitchen platform InnerChef raises Rs 43 crore

BENGALURU:

Shared cloud-kitchen platform

InnerChef has raised $6.5 million (Rs 43 crore) in pre-series B funding from several investors including Mistletoe, Das Capital, Saha Capital, M&S Partners and Brand Capital, the strategic investment arm of the Times Group that publishes this newspaper. The funds will be used to expand the company’s footprint into newer cities and leverage its healthy eats franchise.

InnerChef

has raised over $10 million in funding so far, with Japanese investment firm Mistletoe as its lead investor.

InnerChef delivers over 10,000 meals every day. Founded in 2015, it has over 25 kitchens that operate as a hub-and-spoke model and has built a portfolio of brands like Healthie, Bombay Sandwich Company, Thalis of India, YumYumDilli and YumYumSouth. Healthie, a healthy food brand, contributes a third of its orders.

“We are planning to quadruple our kitchens to 100 in the next one year in existing and newer cities including Pune, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Chennai. Our plan is to expand to 1,000 kitchens in the next 5 years,” said founder and CEO Rajesh Sawhney. The food-tech startup has built a subscription-based platform. Though InnerChef’s revenue rose 58% to Rs 15.67 crore in 2017-18, losses rose 17% to Rs 12.9 crore. Sawhney said the company has done away with a few things to narrow its losses. It has scaled down its multi-brands strategy to focus on select home brands and it has pivoted from shipping ingredient boxes to servicing gourmet meals.

Swiggy, Zomato, UberEats. Freshmenu, Box8, and Fasoos are others that have cloud kitchens.