Latest news with #RebelFoods
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
EatSure launches Rajkot's first vegetarian-only smart foodcourt
EatSure, the flagship food delivery platform by Rebel Foods , announced the launch of its first EatSure vegetarian-only smart foodcourt in Rajkot. Situated at Crystal Mall, Kalawad Road, this will be the eighth physical smart foodcourt by EatSure in India. Spanning 2200 square feet, it is set to redefine dining in the city by offering a queueless, fully digital ordering experience . The Rajkot EatSure Smart Foodcourt introduces a unique dining experience where customers can place orders using self-service kiosks or through the EatSure app . Notifications are sent via digital screens or WhatsApp once the order is ready, ensuring a hassle-free process with no waiting in long queues. Apart from the unique digital ordering experience, the EatSure foodcourt is home to celebrate brands across popular food missions, said a company release. Speaking about the launch, Sagar Kochhar, co-founder and CEO, EatSure, Rebel Foods, said, 'With the launch of EatSure's first-ever vegetarian-only smart foodcourt in Rajkot, we're thrilled to bring a one-of-a-kind, tech-powered dining experience to a city that truly celebrates vegetarian cuisine. This marks a major milestone in our offline growth journey as we merge culinary innovation with a fully digital ecosystem. Category-leading, much-loved brands like Behrouz Biryani, Faasos, Wendy's, Oven Story, Sweet Truth, and more, are coming to Rajkot — all under one roof. With this launch, we aim to redefine everyday dining by delivering unmatched convenience, variety, and trust through a seamless, smart experience.' With this launch, food lovers in the city can now enjoy food from Wendy's, Behrouz Biryani, Faasos, Oven Story Pizza, Lunchbox, Sweet Truth, The Good Bowl, Firangi Bake, The Biryani Life, and ES Café — all in one seamless order. From biryanis, burgers, and pizzas to wraps and desserts, the EatSure platform simplifies the entire dining experience with unmatched variety and convenience, the release stated. Rebel Foods, which leads the direct-to-consumer revolution in online dining, is bringing this to life through EatSure's virtual food court model. The Rajkot launch replicates the ease of a physical food court, enabling consumers to order from top brands in a single order. EatSure has also partnered with IRCTC to transform train travel dining. With the 'Order Food on Train' feature on its app, passengers can now easily order from a range of restaurants and have it delivered right to their seats as they travel across the Indian Railway network, it added. With its growing omni-channel presence, the EatSure app has already captivated over 20 million users in 75+ cities across India.
India Today
4 days ago
- Business
- India Today
How cloud kitchens are powering India's new F&B renaissance. All you need to know
There was a time when opening a restaurant in India required the sort of courage one usually reserves for starting an airline or making a Bollywood period drama. It meant leases, licenses, lavish interiors, and an unwavering belief that people would walk in, order generously, and return often enough to keep the lights the F&B playbook has been rewritten, and the pen was handed over to a new generation of food entrepreneurs who've traded chandeliers for cloud can thank the pandemic for some of it. Or the fact that India's young urbanites are now more likely to order an artisanal bao than walk out for one. Or simply that the dream of launching a food brand no longer needs a storefront on Linking Road or Khan Market—it just needs a strong idea, a shared kitchen, and a few loyal delivery Today spoke with Sanket S Co - Founder of Scandalous Foods to get more to India's cloud kitchen boom. Where innovation is on the stove, and real estate no longer dictates kitchens—also called ghost kitchens or dark kitchens, are not new globally. But in India, they've found a particular kind of sweet spot. Think of them as the WeWork of the food world. No dining area. advertisementNo footfall. Just a back-end kitchen, digital orders, and a menu that lives and breathes it's not just the format that's exciting, it's the philosophy. These are not merely kitchens. They are launchpads. They allow young food brands to do what restaurants traditionally could not, experiment, fail, pivot, and try again. All without mortgaging your home or betting on a landlord's Korean rice bowls to saffron-infused laddoos that last 45 days without a single preservative, the cloud model has become the test kitchen of India's culinary future. A quiet revolution is simmering, one container at a time.A MODEL FOR EVERY APPETITENot all cloud kitchens are created equal. Some go solo, independent spaces owned and operated by one brand. Others opt for co-working kitchens, where multiple ventures share facilities, infrastructure, and sometimes, inspiration. Then there are marketplace models, managed by giants like Rebel Foods, where third-party brands with proven traction are onboarded at most startups, the first step is humble, rent a space, set up operations, and let the food speak for itself. The beauty of this model lies in its accessibility. You don't need foot traffic when you have order data. advertisementYou don't need dcor when you've nailed your biryani-to-delivery-box experience. And most importantly, you can test product-market fit with agility and like every good story, there's a PRICE OF STAYING INVISIBLE The success of a brand born in the cloud is real, but so is the challenge of staying visible. On aggregator platforms, where most cloud kitchens thrive, the customer often remembers the delivery app, not the brand that made the food. Customer loyalty becomes hard-earned currency in a space ruled by convenience and to that the high commissions and platform-led price cuts, and suddenly, scaling sustainably starts to look like a different kind of uphill why many of the new-age brands are choosing a hybrid route. A cloud kitchen for quick market entry, QSRs for recall and visibility, and eventually a dine-in format to deepen the brand experience. Some brands are working behind the scenes, especially, when it comes to the increasing average-order-value (AOVs). These homegrown brands are targeting the irreplaceable Indian habit of post-meal desserts. They source it from the best, and perfect the science of shelf life, and supply sweets to restaurants you thought made them in-house; and just like that the whole cloud kitchen industry stands to accumulate more profits per WE'RE HEADEDZomato and Swiggy recorded a combined sales figure of $4 billion last year. Online food ordering is expected to reach around $4.5 billion in FY24, with projections indicating growth to approximately $13 billion by 2029 and $26 billion by 2032. It's about the hunger, literal and metaphorical, for innovation. From millet pizzas to plant-based kebabs, the Indian palate is more adventurous than ever before. And in this evolving appetite, cloud kitchens have found their calling. They are no longer the poor cousin of the dine, in dream. They are the idea labs. The rehearsal stage. The proof-of-concept before the main eventually, every food brand worth its salt, and ghee, must step out of the shadows. The true mark of success isn't just a bestseller menu online, but a loyal customer offline. A face to the name. A place where the aroma doesn't stop at the now, though, the cloud is a good place to begin.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Rebel Foods secures $25m from Qatar Investment Authority to support growth
Indian online restaurant company Rebel Foods has received a $25m investment from Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) to support growth, propelling the company's valuation to $1.4bn, reported Mint. This funding is set to bolster the expansion of Rebel Foods' physical restaurants, as well as food courts, indicating a shift for the Temasek-supported company. Few people under anonymity revealed information regarding the restaurant plan. One of the parties said: 'The company wants to expand restaurant and café business, essentially to expand in an omnichannel way.' The parent company of brands such as Faasos and Behrouz Biryani, Rebel Foods has not issued a statement on the matter. A large portion of the investment is earmarked for the growth of Rebel Foods' food court venture, Eatsure. Another source said: 'The company wants to start some key restaurants and food courts where their branded food items can be sold and dined in. They now want to have an omnichannel approach. This is likely to challenge any incoming competition from newer players and quick commerce majors.' The company's strategy includes a diverse offering within its food courts, ranging from biryani to pizza, and cakes to coffee. With the fresh capital, Rebel Foods is poised to inaugurate additional outlets in key Indian cities such as Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru and Delhi. The company also recently partnered with Wendy's in India. The introduction of new outlets comes alongside reports from December, when Mint cited an anonymous source claiming that KKR was in the process of acquiring $50m-$75m worth of Rebel Foods shares from existing investors, at a valuation of $800m-$860m. Furthermore, Rebel Foods is reportedly considering an initial public offering within the next one to one and a half years. In February 2025, Rebel Foods opened its third Oven Story Pizza store in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh. "Rebel Foods secures $25m from Qatar Investment Authority to support growth" was originally created and published by Verdict Food Service, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Mint
22-04-2025
- Business
- Mint
On a platter: Rebel Foods gets $25 mn from Qatar Investment Authority for restaurant expansion
Mumbai: Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has injected $25 million into Rebel Foods, valuing the company at $1.4 billion. The funds will support the Temasek-backed company's expansion of its physical restaurants and food courts business, marking a strategic evolution for the cloud kitchen giant, three people aware of the development said. 'The company wants to expand restaurant and café business, essentially to expand in an omnichannel way," said the first of the three persons cited earlier, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity. Rebel Foods, the operator of Faasos and Behrouz Biryani, declined to comment on the development while Qatar's sovereign wealth fund did not immediately respond to Mint's request for comment. Read more: Quick commerce, long payback: Can Zomato and Swiggy deliver returns to shareholders? 'The company wants to start some key restaurants and food courts where their branded food items can be sold and dined in. They now want to have an omnichannel approach. This is likely to challenge any incoming competition from newer players and quick commerce majors," the second person said. This person added that most of the fresh funding will be used to expand EatSure, its food court business. The company has been focusing on food court format, and recently tied up with fast food chain Wendy's in India . It operates under 10 EatSure formats in different cities selling everything from biryani to pizza, cakes and coffee, and plans to open more in the coming years. The company is likely to use the ₹ 200 crore to open a small number of stores/restaurants in its key markets including Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru and Delhi. 'The investment from QIA is an extension to the last round in which Temasek pumped in primary capital. The valuation is also the same," the second person added. In October last year, Temasek Holdings, the investment arm of Singapore government, bought 20-25% stake in the cloud kitchen chain for $200 million, Mint had reported. At that time, existing investors in the company such as Coatue Management, Lightbox and Peak XV sold part of their stake. Later, KKR, the US-based global private equity firm, purchased secondary stakes worth an undisclosed sum from these investors. Mint had reported in December, citing an unnamed source, that KKR was set to buy Rebel Foods shares worth $50-75 million from existing investors, valuing the startup at $800-860 million. Rebel Foods is also planning an initial public offering in the next 12-18 months, Mint had reported. With this, Temasek will be the largest single non-founder shareholder in the company. The founders hold around 12% stake in the Mumbai-based company and QIA holds around 9.9% stake. In October 2021, the company raised $175 million in its Series F funding round from investors led by Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) at a valuation of $1.4 billion. Read more: Consumer brands set to write the influencer marketing playbook to push rural sales? Founded in 2011 by Jaydeep Barman and Kallol Banerjee, Rebel Foods operates cloud kitchen brands such as Faasos, Behrouz Biryani, Oven Story Pizza, Mandarin Oak, The Good Bowl, SLAY Coffee, Sweet Truth and Wendy's, apart from operating offline stores in India. In all, it operates over 450 kitchens in over 70 cities. It has a portfolio of over 45 brands across multiple countries including India, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and the UK. The company reduced its losses to ₹ 378 crore in FY24 from a net loss of ₹ 657 crore the year before, driven by better margins and economies of scale across its portfolio, Mint reported in August. Its revenue from operations saw a modest rise to ₹ 1,420 crore in FY24, up from ₹ 1,195 crore the previous year, while expenses remained flat at ₹ 1,857 crore, the report said.
