Shared cloud kitchen platform InnerChef India Pvt. Ltd has raised $6.5 million in a pre-Series B round led by Taizo Son’s Mistletoe Inc. and Das Capital, the company said. Existing investors who participated in the round include Mohan Das Pai’s Saha Fund, and M&A Partners. The funds will be used for brand building and developing the subscription model.
InnerChef had raised an unknown amount in its Series A funding round from Russia’s Chernovetskyi Investment Group, shows Crunchbase data. The company claims to have raised $10 million in funding so far.
“The fresh funding will be used to strengthen the brand portfolio. Healthie, for instance, has become a category-defining brand in 2018. We are also using the fresh round of funding to further strengthen our shared kitchen platform across India,” said Rajesh Sawhney, co-founder and chief executive officer, InnerChef.
Mistletoe founder Son is the younger brother of SoftBank Group Corp.’s founder Masayoshi Son. He launched his investment firm in 2013 and plans to invest in agri-tech and food-tech startups. Some of his recent investments include agri-tech startups Ninjacart and Kisan Network.
Unlike Masayoshi Son, who has backed mega startups OYO Rooms and Swiggy, Taizo Son’s Mistletoe is focused on early-stage ventures that can scale.
InnerChef is planning to develop existing brands such as Healthie, Bombay Sandwich Company, Thalis of India, YumYumDilli and YumYumSouth, with major focus on developing Healthie. Certain new brands are being developed to be exclusively listed on other food delivery platforms, the company said on Monday.
Currently, it has about 25 kitchens across six cities. The target is to expand to 100 kitchens across 10 cities, including Chennai, Kolkata and Pune.
Founded in 2015, the company started as a raw ingredient box that a consumer could make a dish out of. When founder Sawhney, Sanjeev Singhal, and Bal DiGhent realized that “India is not ready for the box model” the company pivoted to delivering food from cloud kitchens.
InnerChef competes with food delivery start-ups Swiggy and Zomato, among others, in the food delivery and cloud kitchen space.
Source: Mint