Online food delivery startup Freshmenu is in talks with several private equity (PE) funds to raise nearly $75 million, according to reports. International PE players including TPG, General Atlantic, Singapore’s Temasek Holdings and domestic PE players like Kedaara Capital are said to be part of the ongoing discussions.
These PE companies are vying to acquire to 25-30% stake in the Freshmenu at a valuation of roughly $250 Mn. This valuation is a steep rise from the company’s modest valuation of $50 million during the series B round in 2016, said a person on the condition of anonymity.
The person added that seven to eight PE funds have already signed non-disclosure agreement with the company. He, however, maintained that the discussions are in preliminary stage.
Bengaluru headquartered company Freshmenu will utilize the funds for adding more kitchens across its traditional markets like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR and Gurgaon. The company, which currently has 100 kitchens across the country, is aiming to have 300 kitchens by 2020.
Freshmenu is also likely to use funds to enter newer markets like Pune and Hyderabad.
The company had recently hit the headlines following an allegation that data breach had compromised the personal information of more than 11,000 users. Few months backs, there were also report that company is holding acquisition talks with Ola, which holds food delivery brand FoodPanda.
Factsheets about Freshmenu
- Founded by 2014 by IIM A alumnus Rashmi Daga
- Raised $17 Mn (Rs 110 crore) in series B round in 2016
- Raised $5 Mn in series A round in 2015
- Counts Lightspeed Ventures and Zodius Capital as its investors
Meanwhile, India’s online food delivery industry seems to be heading towards bright future. A report by RedSeer Management claims that the industry, which is currently dominated by Zomato and Swiggy, is estimated to touch $2.5 bn by 2021.
Analysts claim that the Industry can pull off a spectacular success if India could replicate China’s growth story. China currently accounts for $35 Mn delivery per day as compared to only 1.5 Mn in India. China’s food delivery industry is also estimated to be worth $40 bn, which is obviously way higher than the valuation of Indian market.