Faasos’ owner wants $100 million to expand

NEW DELHI: Rebel Foods, owner operator of internet kitchen brand Faasos, is in talks with investors to raise a little over $100 million (Rs 735 crore), as it looks to enter overseas markets and expand both its product range and cloud kitchen presence nationally, three people aware of the development said.

The Mumbai-based company, earlier called Faasos Food Services, is in the process of closing its latest round of equity financing, estimated at $35 million, which is likely to see existing backer, marque venture firm Sequoia Capital put in $10-15 million in the eight-year-old firm, persons cited earlier told ET.

The round, which has already seen entry of new backers Sistema Asia Fund and UAE-based Evolvence, values the company at $200-220 million, according to persons cited earlier. Lightbox, an early backer, has also participated in this round.


Jaydeep Barman, chief executive, Faasos, declined comment. An email sent to Sequoia Capital remained unanswered till time of press.

Sources also said some of Faasos’ early investors are likely to either completely or partially exit in an ongoing secondary transaction. Sequoia Capital, they said, is also contemplating raising its stake.

Separately, Faasos is believed to have received significant interest from investors, including private equity and hedge funds, for a possible $75-million round, at a potential valuation of $300-330 million—a premium of 40-50% over the ongoing round.

If successful, this new round could close by December 2018 or January next year.

South African media and internet conglomerate Naspers is also believed to have held exploratory talks for an investment, but this could not be independently confirmed. An email sent to Naspers did not elicit a response till late Thursday.

Faasos has been one of the few bright spots in the Indian food tech space, which three years ago had emerged as a darling of investors, but then also sank swiftly after startups were unable to bring in the required operational efficiencies, leading to unsustainable burn rates.

The company — founded by Insead and McKinsey alum Barman and Kallol Banerjee, also from Insead and then Bosch — operates an estimated 1,100 internet restaurants. Last month, ET reported the company was preparing to establish its first batch of multi-brand cloud kitchens in Dubai, making an international foray. It will have three kitchens operational in the city by the first quarter of 2019, which will see the firm launch its brands Faasos, Behrouz Biryani, Oven Story and Firangi Bake in the Middle East.