Zesty Kitchen, a cloud kitchen focussed on regional cuisines, has raised Rs 3 crore (approximately $422,085 at current exchange rates) in funding from a clutch of angel investors.
The company said in a statement the investors in the cloud kitchen included former Abbott India managing director Rehan Khan, ITC Ltd divisional chief executive agri business Sanjiv Rangrass, Cleanmax managing director Kuldeep Jain and Suhail Sameer, the chief executive officer at RP-SG FMCG.
Other angel investors that participated in the round include Ravi Shah, Sanjaya Sathapathy, Spencer Stuart India head Rohit Kale, Rishad Abraham of Social Finance India, Prashant Kapoor, Sameer Taneja, and IndusInd Bank chief operating officer Paul Abraham.
Zesty Kitchen was founded by Indian School of Business alumni Sambit Sathapathy and Aditya Singh. Previously, Sathapathy and Singh have worked with Abbott and professional services firm McKinsey.
The company, which began operations in Mumbai’s Powai area, says it is now planning to expand to the Andheri and Malad regions of the city, and is also launching its businesses in the commercial hubs of BKC and Parel in Mumbai
It aims to build several regional and consumption-specific sub-brands, with a view to expand to over 1,000 kitchens by 2025, and says it sources ingredients directly from regions to maintain authenticity. Currently, it operates at least two sub-brands: Jamai Shoshthi and Medha Malvan, with the former contributing at least 20% of the company’s revenue.
Deals in the restaurant segment
There have been several moves in the quick-service restaurant (QSR) and cloud kitchen segment recently, as startups look at strategies involving one company with several sub-brands, all while maintaining low costs and overheads.
For example, last month, Rebel Foods Pvt. Ltd, the owner of online kitchen brands including Faasos and Behrouz Biryani, raised $125 million (around Rs 868 crore) from Goldman Sachs, Indonesian ride-hailing firm Go-Jek and US-based investor Coatue Management.
Earlier this month, the US-based Tiger Global Management marked its entry into the QSR segment by leading a $23 million (around Rs 163.7 crore) funding round in Wow! Momo Foods Pvt. Ltd, which operates and owns brands Wow! Momo and Wow! China.