Khazanah National Berhad, the sovereign wealth fund of Malaysian government, has led a Rs 410 crore ($49 million) round of investment in Indian quick-service restaurant chain Wow! Momo.
Khazanah contributed Rs 350 crore in the extended Series D funding round while Wow! Momo’s existing investor OAKS Asset Management participated with Rs 60 crore contribution, as per a press statement.
OAKS had earlier put $15 million in September 2022 to kickstart the Series D fundraise.
The latest transaction has been struck at a post-money valuation of nearly Rs 2,460 crore.
This is Khazanah’s fourth India investment over the past year as it revives its play in the country after exiting its legacy portfolio two years ago.
The transaction also provided an exit to angel investors from the Indian Angel Network and a partial exit to the company’s Series A backer Lighthouse Funds, the QSR chain said, without disclosing the investors’ returns.
Wow! Momo had raised Rs 40 crore from Lighthouse Funds in 2017 and secured funding from the Indian Angel Network in 2015. It also previously raised Rs 120 crore from US-based private investment firm Tiger Global Management in 2019 and $15 million from Singapore hedge fund Tree Line in September 2021.
Launched in August 2008, Wow! Momo currently operates more than 630 outlets in over 35 cities. The Kolkata-based firm, which also houses Wow! China and Wow! Chicken's under its stable, aims to launch additional 200 units in this coming fiscal year.
Led by Sagar Daryani, CEO and co-founder, Wow! Momo seeks to enter more than 100 cities and achieve a footprint of over 1,500 stores in the next three years.
The brand is also expanding across various touchpoints in the FMCG sector with over 1,200 retail outlets across more than 50 cities in modern trade and quick commerce with its ready-to-eat momos.
"We aim to encourage the growth of Wow! Momo through enhanced scalability, technological fortification, and focusing on building a strong back-end capability to support its growth," said Dato’ Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir, MD at Khazanah.
Khazanah, which has five regional offices, says it maintains a positive outlook on India. Some of its recent investments in the country include Xpressbees, Flipkart and TransUnion CIBIL, among others.
