Holachef Raises A New Round Of Funding From Existing Investors

According to VCCEdge, Holachef, the Mumbai-based food-tech startup, has raised funds in a now round from existing investors, Kalaari Capital and India Quotient. The food delivery platform received $1.5 million investment in a Series B round of funding. The company also raised nearly $3.1 million last year in a Series A round furnished by Kalaari Capital and India Quotient, as well as from Ratan Tata, among other investors. 

Emerging Food-Tech Platform

Holachef was launched in 2014 by Saurabh Saxena and Anil Gelra and delivers home-cooked meals prepared by its vast team of chefs. The food-tech platform offers several variety of cuisines in an ever-changing menu with an average order price on Rs. 310. Holachef currently operates in Mumbai and Pune and has boosted its order per month rate from 2,000 orders per month when it was launched initially to nearly 1 lakh orders per month in 2016. 

Expansion

Although the food-tech startup scene in India has faced significant heat at the turn of this year, Holachef is chugging along with plans for expansion to other tier I and II cities in the pipeline. “We plan to expand consolidate our operations in Mumbai and Pune this year and prepare for other cities as well. In 5 years from now, we would have expanded most tier 1 and tier 2 cities in India, ” said Saurabh Saxena in an exclusive interview with HungryForever. Holachef is one of the few startups in the country which offers full-stack food services. 

Lack Of Funding

With VC investors money drying up, numerous food-tech startups have either consolidated with other startups or have entirely shut shop this year. Last month, online food-delivery platform Tinyowl merged with the logistics platform Roadrunnr to launch a new food-delivery platform called Runnr, in competition with other players in this specific category such as Swiggy, Zomato Order and Foodpanda. Other food-tech platforms such as Frsh.com and Eatlo shut shop last year months after the official launch.