Rebel Foods raises $210 million in funding round led by Temasek; early investors exit

Rebel Foods raises $210 million in funding round led by Temasek; early investors exit (Representational image)

Rebel Foods, the cloud kitchen startup that runs brands such as Faasos, Oven Story, Behrouz Biryani and others, has secured $210 million in its Series G funding round, a mix of secondary share sales and primary capital.

While the company did not provide the break up, Moneycontrol has learnt that the round was largely a secondary transaction, almost 75%, where early backers like Lightbox, Coatue and others sold shares. The primary capital portion was led by Singapore’s Temasek, with participation from existing investor Evolvence.

Moneycontrol was the first and exclusively reported on this development in August, detailing Rebel Foods’ funding round led by Temasek.

"The round witnessed certain investors receiving exits, underscoring Rebel Foods' commitment to delivering value to its stakeholders," the company said in a statement, without divulging further details on the deal specifics or valuation.

In a primary round, the money goes directly into the firm’s bank accounts and in a secondary transaction, company shares are just transferred from one investor to another. Nothing goes into the company’s coffers.

Commenting on the development, Jaydeep Barman, Co-founder and CEO of Rebel Foods, said: "This funding reinforces our vision to keep strengthening our platform thereby enhancing our portfolio of brands, scale our omnichannel presence, and drive operational excellence globally. As we enter this next phase of growth, we remain steadfast in our commitment to innovation, sustainability, and creating lasting value for our customers and stakeholders.”

Avendus Capital acted as the financial advisor to the firm on this transaction.

Improved financials 

The latest funding round comes on the back of the company’s improved financial performance.
The firm generated a revenue of Rs 1,420 crore in FY24, a 19 percent increase from Rs 1,195 crore in FY23, regulatory filings showed.

The company reduced its losses by 42 percent, from Rs 657 crore in FY23 to Rs 378 crore in FY24.

“Rebel’s round has been in the works for about a year now and the company has reached a deal because it has managed to bring down its monthly cash burn thanks to belt tightening measures like reducing workforce, reducing overall spends etc undertaken over the past year,” people close of the development told Moneycontrol previously.

Rebel Foods’ revenue grew 19% to Rs 1,420 crore; losses narrowed to Rs 378 crore in FY24

The company was burning around Rs 50 crore a month in FY23 but that has halved that to about Rs 25 crore now, they added.

In FY24, Rebel Foods incurred Rs 1,857 crore in total expenses largely flat on year-on-year (YoY) basis, the filings showed. Cost of materials consumed, employee benefit expenses, commissions to companies like Zomato and Swiggy were some of the main cost components for the company.

Expanding omnichannel 

Rebel Foods, similar to other consumer companies, is also planning to double down on its omnichannel play. It aims to have 250 physical outlets to complement its cloud kitchen model and even toyed with the idea of an offline food court, where all its nine brands will be available under the same roof.

Currently, Rebel Foods operates over 450 kitchens across 70+ cities in India and international markets, including the UAE and the UK. R

Rebel also credits its growth to its proprietary full-stack technology, Rebel OS, that enables the rapid launch and scaling of multiple brands. Using the Rebel Launcher, powered by this tech platform, the company claims to have introduced over 25 brands and expanded its presence across the country.

Not just Rebel, other cloud kitchen startups have been expanding into offline stores as they look to tap a growing audience base and increase revenue streams. Founded in 2011 by Jaydeep Barman and Kallol Banerjee, the company, which competes with Binny Bansal-backed Curefoods, Tiger Global-funded Eatclub and others, has raised over $710 million, including the latest round, to date.