Cheelizza Pizza Launches Rights Issue to Fund Aggressive Store Expansion

Mumbai, December 19, 2025 — Cheelizza Pizza India Limited, one of India's emerging pure-vegetarian quick service restaurant (QSR) chains, announced the launch of its rights issue, offering existing shareholders an opportunity to participate in the company's ambitious expansion plans at a discounted price. The issue closes on December 28, 2025, with proceeds earmarked for store expansion, working capital, and operational improvements.

Founded in 2013 by Animesh Lodha, with a single outlet in Kandivali, Mumbai, Cheelizza has grown into a 20+ stores operation spanning Maharashtra and Gujarat. Operating under its multi-brand vegetarian platform EatVeg, the company runs three distinct concepts: Cheelizza for pizzas, BiryaniCan for biryani, and Indian Combos for regional meal solutions. The company has built a significant presence across Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Rajkot, and Vadodara, serving both dine-in customers and delivery through food aggregator platforms and its own digital channels.

Cheelizza has demonstrated robust revenue growth, scaling from approximately ₹13.36 crore in FY23 to ₹19.35 crore in FY25, representing a three-year CAGR of over 20%. The company now processes over 65,000 orders per month with a monthly run rate exceeding ₹2.4 crore, and maintains an average rating of 4.1+ across Zomato and Swiggy. With over 200 employees, Cheelizza has remained focused on opening company-owned company-operated outlets, ensuring brand consistency and operational control, unlike many competitors who have scaled through franchising.

The rights issue represents a critical funding milestone as Cheelizza seeks to scale operations and improve unit economics. Management has outlined a comprehensive deployment strategy that includes store expansion through opening new outlets across Western India and potentially new geographies, with an ambitious target of 100+ stores within two years. The capital will also be used to improve operational efficiency, including kitchen layouts, standardizing processes, and reducing per-store overhead to strengthen margins. Additionally, funds will support supply chain optimization to enhance sourcing efficiency and purchasing power as the network scales, while a portion will be allocated to brand-building efforts to strengthen market presence in the competitive vegetarian QSR segment.

Vijay Gada of Kubergrow Financials noted that Cheelizza's current growth phase mirrors the trajectory of successful QSR chains. "Cheelizza's challenges are typical of early-stage QSR chains. Comparable brands like Wow! Momo, Biryani Blues, and Burger Singh experienced similar loss-making phases during their expansion years before achieving profitability through operational leverage," he said.

Cheelizza operates in India's fast-expanding organized food service market, valued at ₹4.24 trillion and growing at approximately 11% CAGR. The QSR segment alone is worth ₹321.5 billion, with organized chains accounting for roughly 24% of the market. The company's 100% vegetarian positioning targets a significant but underserved segment. Approximately 30% of India's population prefers vegetarian food, representing a market opportunity of ₹1.27 trillion. Despite this sizeable demand, no scaled national vegetarian QSR brand currently dominates the category—a gap Cheelizza aims to fill.

Hari Balasubramanian, investor with Indian Angel Network and board observer at Cheelizza Pizza India Ltd., emphasized the strategic importance of this capital raise. "The vegetarian food service category remains significantly underserved at scale, despite representing close to 30% of India's food preferences. Cheelizza's brand-led approach and operational discipline position it well to capture growing demand for consistent, modern vegetarian experiences across metros and Tier-II cities," he said. "The management's decision to raise capital through a rights issue underscores a long-term, shareholder-driven approach to growth. We see this as a defining moment for the brand to step into a larger national presence."

The rights issue offers equity shares to existing shareholders at a discounted price from current market levels. Shareholders have the flexibility to either subscribe to the offer or sell their entitlement through renunciation rights before the December 28, 2025 closing date. Unlisted shares of Cheelizza Pizza India Limited currently trade on Kubergrow Financials at around ₹63 per share.

Cheelizza Pizza India Limited is a Mumbai-based pure-vegetarian QSR chain operating under the EatVeg multi-brand platform. With 20+ outlets across Maharashtra and Gujarat, the company serves pizzas, biryani, and regional meals through dine-in and delivery channels, focusing on the underserved vegetarian QSR segment in India's rapidly growing organized food service market.