Food Startup FreshMenu May Raise $25-30 Mn in Fresh Funding

Bangalore headquartered online food ordering startup FreshMenu is reportedly in talks to raise $25-30 million from new and existing investors. The company, which last raised $16.5 Mn in 2016, is backed by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Zodius Capital.

The startup is expected to use the upcoming funds to rapidly ramp up its service, especially infrastructure and technology and hire new people in to its team.

Freshmenu, which has raised mere $17 million in just two rounds, was valued at roughly $40-$50 million in 2016. The company is doing relatively better then its counterparts. It is operational in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi-NCR and works cloud kitchen concept with 22 kitchens in Bangalore, 9 in Mumbai as well in Delhi/Gurgaon.

Founded in 2014 by Rashmi Daga, an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Freshmenu is consistently trying to rope in new investors and raise fresh funds it required after 4 years of its existence.

In April this year, it was rumoured that the company is in talks with cab-haling firm Ola to get acquired or possible buyout option but then eventually nothing fruitful has been heard about same.

Last November, it was also reported that Freshmenu has roped in Bennett, Coleman and Company Ltd (BCCL) as a new investor to raise funding of Rs. 1.65 Crore but then too the deal went off.

Freshmenu competes with the likes of HolaChef, Faasos and InnerChef. Recently, at time when food tech startup like Yumist had shutdown, FreshMenu has found a place in India’s top 5 food-tech startups in terms of revenues.

Last month, food tech startups raised funds include HungerBox raised $4.5 million in a Series A funding round led by South Korean investment firm Neoplux and India’s private equity fund Sabre Partners.

CCube Angels Network, a Singapore based angel investing network has invested Rs.3.5 crore in Inner Being,a Nutri-food start up based out of Hyderabad

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Ola Now In Talks To Buy FreshMenu and A Similar Food Startup

Its just been a week that Ola has acquired Mumbai-based Ridlr, now it is being reported that the homegrown cab-haling firm has held talks to buy private label food startup FreshMenu following its purchase of food ordering app Foodpanda, said a Live Mint report, citing three people familiar with the matter.

Ola (ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd) has held talks to buy Bengaluru headquartered food brand Freshmenu (Foodvista India Pvt. Ltd) and at least one similar firm, the people cited above said. No deal has been agreed yet with either firm, they said, on condition of anonymity as the talks are private.

Ola may raise funds separately for Foodpanda later this year to tap the strong investor demand for food-tech startups, the people said.

Founded in 2014 by Rashmi Daga, Freshmenu is a food delivery company that serves pan-Asian cuisine and runs its own kitchen and delivery operations. The company has raised $21.5M in total funding to date, from investors including Zodius Capital and Lightspeed Ventures.

In December, Ola bought Foodpanda India from its German parent Delivery Hero AG in an all-stock deal and said it will invest $200 million to expand Foodpanda’s operations. Ola has made founding partner Pranav Jivrajka CEO of Foodpanda.

The proposed creation of a separate food entity is also part of Ola’s plan to have a group company-like structure similar to that of online retail firm Flipkart Ltd, the people said. Apart from its core cab hailing business and Foodpanda, Ola has a payments business called Ola Money. It also bought public transportation app Ridlr last week for an undisclosed amount.

Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal is considering ways to have independent assets that can together increase Ola’s valuation. Ola’s inspiration is its Bengaluru neighbour Flipkart, whose ownership of fashion retailers Myntra and Jabong as well as payments app PhonePe has made it more attractive to investors.

Coming back to food delivery companies in India, India's Ola and America's Uber, instead of solely doing cab aggregation business, have had entered into online food delivery market to heat up market preposition for old player like Zomato. It may be recalled that in January it was reported that UK-based Food delivery firm Deliveroo, also one of the best funded European startups, is in the process of hiring a country head along with setting up a full-fledged team in India.

Ola Now In Talks To Buy FreshMenu and A Similar Food Startup

Its just been a week that Ola has acquired Mumbai-based Ridlr, now it is being reported that the homegrown cab-haling firm has held talks to buy private label food startup FreshMenu following its purchase of food ordering app Foodpanda, said a Live Mint report, citing three people familiar with the matter.

Ola (ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd) has held talks to buy Bengaluru headquartered food brand Freshmenu (Foodvista India Pvt. Ltd) and at least one similar firm, the people cited above said. No deal has been agreed yet with either firm, they said, on condition of anonymity as the talks are private.

Ola may raise funds separately for Foodpanda later this year to tap the strong investor demand for food-tech startups, the people said.

Founded in 2014 by Rashmi Daga, Freshmenu is a food delivery company that serves pan-Asian cuisine and runs its own kitchen and delivery operations. The company has raised $21.5M in total funding to date, from investors including Zodius Capital and Lightspeed Ventures.

In December, Ola bought Foodpanda India from its German parent Delivery Hero AG in an all-stock deal and said it will invest $200 million to expand Foodpanda’s operations. Ola has made founding partner Pranav Jivrajka CEO of Foodpanda.

The proposed creation of a separate food entity is also part of Ola’s plan to have a group company-like structure similar to that of online retail firm Flipkart Ltd, the people said. Apart from its core cab hailing business and Foodpanda, Ola has a payments business called Ola Money. It also bought public transportation app Ridlr last week for an undisclosed amount.

Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal is considering ways to have independent assets that can together increase Ola’s valuation. Ola’s inspiration is its Bengaluru neighbour Flipkart, whose ownership of fashion retailers Myntra and Jabong as well as payments app PhonePe has made it more attractive to investors.

Coming back to food delivery companies in India, India's Ola and America's Uber, instead of solely doing cab aggregation business, have had entered into online food delivery market to heat up market preposition for old player like Zomato. It may be recalled that in January it was reported that UK-based Food delivery firm Deliveroo, also one of the best funded European startups, is in the process of hiring a country head along with setting up a full-fledged team in India.

FreshMenu To Raise Rs.1.65 Crore Funding From Media Conglomerate Bennett, Coleman and Company Ltd

FreshMenu, a food-tech startup based out of Bengaluru, has roped in a new investor to raise funding of Rs. 1.65 Crore. The company has welcomed on-board media conglomerate Bennett, Coleman and Company Ltd (BCCL), , which runs newspapers Times of India and Economic Times.

According to the documents filed by the company with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), BCCL will be investing around ₹1.65 crore in the food-tech startup. Rashmi Daga, co-founder of FreshMenu has confirmed this development and termed the transaction as an ad-for-equity deal.

The ROC documents also show that FreshMenu more than doubled its net sales in FY17 to Rs 70.9 crore from Rs 31.7 crore in the same time last year.

Founded in 2014 by IIM-Ahmedabad alumna Rashmi Daga, FreshMenu prepares meals and delivers from its own kitchen facilities. It has so far raised around $22 million from investors, including Zodius Technology Fund, Lightspeed Venture Partners and GrowthStory.

Freshmenu competes with the likes of HolaChef and InnerChef. Recently, at time when food tech startup like Yumist had shutdown, FreshMenu has found a place in India’s top 5 food-tech startups in terms of revenues.

The company, which bets heavily on cloud kitchen, currently has 35 cloud kitchens across Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi NCR. The company is looking to increase the count of its cloud kitchens to 40-42 in the next 4 months.

The development was first reported at VCCircle.

FreshMenu To Raise Rs.1.65 Crore Funding From Media Conglomerate Bennett, Coleman and Company Ltd

FreshMenu, a food-tech startup based out of Bengaluru, has roped in a new investor to raise funding of Rs. 1.65 Crore. The company has welcomed on-board media conglomerate Bennett, Coleman and Company Ltd (BCCL), , which runs newspapers Times of India and Economic Times.

According to the documents filed by the company with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), BCCL will be investing around ₹1.65 crore in the food-tech startup. Rashmi Daga, co-founder of FreshMenu has confirmed this development and termed the transaction as an ad-for-equity deal.

The ROC documents also show that FreshMenu more than doubled its net sales in FY17 to Rs 70.9 crore from Rs 31.7 crore in the same time last year.

Founded in 2014 by IIM-Ahmedabad alumna Rashmi Daga, FreshMenu prepares meals and delivers from its own kitchen facilities. It has so far raised around $22 million from investors, including Zodius Technology Fund, Lightspeed Venture Partners and GrowthStory.

Freshmenu competes with the likes of HolaChef and InnerChef. Recently, at time when food tech startup like Yumist had shutdown, FreshMenu has found a place in India’s top 5 food-tech startups in terms of revenues.

The company, which bets heavily on cloud kitchen, currently has 35 cloud kitchens across Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi NCR. The company is looking to increase the count of its cloud kitchens to 40-42 in the next 4 months.

The development was first reported at VCCircle.