California Burrito raises Rs 120 crore from Elevation Capital

California Burrito co-founder Bert Mueller

California Burrito, a popular quick service restaurant (QSR) chain, has raised Rs 100-120 crore ($11-14 million) from Elevation Capital as the Bengaluru-based eatery looks to expand its retail footprint and take operations to more Indian cities, people familiar with the development told Moneycontrol.

What does California Burrito do?

Started over a decade ago, in 2012, by American entrepreneur Bert Mueller, California Burrito runs a chain of restaurants that sell Mexican food like tacos, burritos, rice bowls, quesadillas and more. While Mueller had started the company along with childhood friends Dharam Khalsa and Gaelan Connell during its early days, he is the only remaining co-founder and runs the firm as the chief executive officer (CEO) now.

What will California Burrito use the money for?

The company will use the fresh funds to open more retail stores. “CB has been slow but steady with its store expansion. It will continue to follow this approach,” one of the persons cited above said. While California Burrito has largely focussed on Bengaluru, it is now experimenting with new cities such as Pune to grow its business.

The company will also use the funds to hire top executives who can help scale the business. It has already hired staffers from KFC and other large QSRs.

How many stores does California Burrito have?

California Burrito, which operates dine in restaurants and sells online too, had a slow start. During its first two years, it only opened four stores in Bengaluru to understand the customer palette and grow its brand name.

Since then, it has now grown to over 110 stores. “The goal is to have around 140 stores in India by the end of March 2026, that is where a significant portion of the capital will go,” a second person aware of the developments said.

What are California Burrito’s revenues like?

The company crossed Rs 100 crore in revenues in FY23, when it clocked Rs 109 crore in sales. From there, it grew to Rs 196 crore in FY24. The company has been loss-making for at least five years. However, it has turned operations around. In FY24, it recorded a profit of Rs 6.8 crore, regulatory filings showed.

The company is yet to file its FY25 results.

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What is California Burrito’s revenue split?
A bulk of California Burrito’s revenues come from online sales from aggregators like Zomato and Swiggy. Sources say 60 percent of the company’s total sales come from online channels and the remaining 40 percent comes from dine-ins.

Elevation Capital and California Burrito did not reply to Moneycontrol’s queries.

California Burrito has raised under $5-10 million in capital since its inception and sources said Kumar Vembu, the brother of Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu, is also a key stakeholder in California Burrito.

Interestingly, Elevation Capital and California Burrito had engaged around 18 months back to consider a fundraise but negotiations back then had paused and have now closed as the two parties agreed on favourable terms, as per sources.