Recently-turned unicorn, Rebel Foods Pvt Ltd, which owns brands like Faasos and Behrouz Biryani has picked up a minority stake for an undisclosed amount in Zomoz, a Hyderabad-based quick service restaurant chain, marking the Momo brand’s pre-Series A funding round.
With the investment, Zomoz is looking to scale to more than 300 retail and cloud outlets across India over the next 30 months, Zomoz said in a statement.
LoEstro Advisors acted as an exclusive financial advisor to Zomoz for this raise
Founded in 2015 by ISB alumnus Shouvik Dhar, the Hyderabad-headquartered company currently has 40 retail and cloud outlets spread across five locations including Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai.
“The model that we operate in fits right into their operating system. This will enable us to grow quickly and profitably across the country,” said Dhar.
“The momos/dumplings category is witnessing high demand in the delivery space and we have an excellent offering in terms of taste and quality. Looking forward to rapidly scaling Zomos and making it the category leader in the next 2-3 years,” said Ankur Sharma, co-founder, Rebel Foods.
Mumbai-headquartered Rebel Foods operates over 450 kitchens globally across over 60 cities in around 10 countries. It is said to be steadily moving towards profitability with annual run rate sales of $150 million and is said to be eyeing an IPO in the next 18-24 months.
In October, Rebel Foods had entered the unicorn club (valuation of $1 billion) after raising $175 million (Rs 1,308 crore) in its Series F round of funding led by Qatar Investment Authority (QIA).
Rebel Foods had also recently partnered with Online takeaway delivery firm Foodpanda, Asia’s largest food delivery company, to roll out the latter's virtual restaurant brands at 2,000 outlets across ten Asian countries.
Quick service restaurant chains have been in focus lately with a number of deals happening in the space.
In September, VCCircle reported that Marathon Edge Partners, the private equity firm co-founded by ex-Bain Capital principal Nikhil Raghavan, will invest in quick service restaurant chain The Belgian Waffle Co.
Kolkata-based Wow! Momo raised over $15 million (Rs 110 crore) in its Series C round of funding led by Singapore-based hedge fund Tree Line Investment Management.
VCCircle had also reported that Biryani by Kilo is in discussions with several local PE funds to raise its Series B round of funding. The publication also reported in September that Dindigul Thalappakatti, a Chennai-based biryani chain of restaurants, is in talks with two PIPE (private investment in public equity) funds to raise capital at a valuation of Rs 1,000 crore.