Celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor-promoted appliances brand Wonderchef has raised Rs 70 crore from Amicus Capital Partners, a mid-market focussed private equity firm, which valued the nine-year-old firm at Rs 700 crore.
Founded in 2009 by Kapoor and former Sodexo Pass India MD Ravi Saxena, the company sells premium kitchen appliances, cookware and bakeware under the Wonderchef brand. This is the third funding raised by company — it received Rs 30 crore from Zurich-headquartered investment firm Capvent in 2015 and raised another Rs 40 crore from French group Labruyere Eberle last year.
“The funds will be invested in brand building and expanding capabilities in terms of manufacturing and warehousing. We will also diversify the portfolio with more products,” said Saxena.
The company that initially sold its wares through alternate route such as teleshopping and a direct sales channel now gets nearly half its sales from stores including its own outlets and other multi-branded retailers. The company said it clocked revenues of Rs 180 crore in FY17-18 and said it hoped to more than-treble it to Rs 600 crore in the next five years.
“Wonderchef has been able to build a strong brand in the cookware and kitchen appliance category within a short period of time. We are committed to helping the company emerge into a clear market leader in the next few years”, said Mahesh Parasuraman, co-founder of Amicus Capital.
Source: Economic Times