Holachef, city-based foodtech startup, has gained series B funding round of $5million i.e. more than Rs 32 crore from its earlier speculator Kalaari Capital. According to the record at Registrar of companies and documents, India Quotient and SIDBI Venture Capital also took interest.
Funding round completed in Tranches
This funding round has been completed in two consecutive tranches in April and October. The funding round which evaluate the Holachef at Rs 143 crore has not been disclosed publicly yet.
Fund utilizes for streamline the business
The earned capital would be used for scaling logistic infrastructure and team building to streamline the business, as confirmed by the startup about the funding. Saurabh Saxena, CEO of the company said that, “Center was to show signs of improvement serve the Mumbai showcase and make a more economical plan of action”.
Holachef’s los and revenues
Holachef registered operating revenues of Rs 11.3 crore in fiscal year 2016 with a loss of Rs 24.8 crore. With the cost of operation going as high as Rs 35 crore last the last financial year, gaining customers for the same has been an issue which is a common problem in this sector.
Holachef moves ahead with offline center
Holachef will open its first user-facing offline center in city to mellow the blow of high customer acquisition cost. It is a considered as an experiment by Saxena instead of a thoroughly planned strategy.
Saxena explained this with the statement that, “(The offline kiosk) is actually a distribution centre but more presentable and customer-facing so people can buy directly from there as well”.
This step will enhance customer reach and service area
The offline store will provide the customers with the entire menu and would also aid in understanding it’s app. The company believes that this step would strengthen it’s market hold and is being looked at a marketing strategy which would result in customer acquisition. Thus it would serve a two way purposes, reducing marketing cost and expanding customer reach and service area for increased coverage.
Company looks to expand its subsidiary
Currently, company has 15 subsidiaries in the city and seeking to expand this number to double in the long-term. Well Saxena is not seeking for geographical expansion still, company is expanding its current menu range in following two months,
He said that, “It will be cuisines and dishes that we can produce at a much higher scale,” he said.
Backed by investors and presence of physical stores, Holachef aims to double it’s revenue by next financial year.