Curefoods Ropes In Ex-Tata Starbucks CEO Avani Davda On Its Board

Cloud kitchen startup Curefoods, floated by Cure.fit cofounder Ankit Nagori, has appointed former Tata Starbucks chief executive officer Avani Davda to its board.

The Bengaluru-based startup, which counts Binny Bansal’s fund Three State Ventures, IronPillar, Chiratae Ventures, ASK Finance and Winter Capital as among its marquee investors, aims to strengthen the depth of proficiency and leadership at hand with this appointment, it said in a statement on Thursday (December 14).

Davda, who currently serves as an independent director in Mahindra Logistics and JSW Paints, has over 20 years of experience across multiple companies, especially in the food and beverage (f&b) space.

Currently, she also serves as a strategic advisor to Bain Advisory Network and had served as the managing director and CEO at Godrej Nature’s Basket. Prior to that, she served Tata Global Beverages as the vice president and eventually moved on to lead Starbucks as its CEO. 

“Avani’s expertise and years of experience in the f&b industry adds a fresh perspective of thought and direction to the brand and its strategy,” Nagori said.

Founded in 2020, Curefoods houses brands like EatFit, Cakezone, Nomad Pizza, Sharief Bhai Biryani and Frozen Bottle among others. The startup claims to be running over 200 cloud kitchens and offline stores that cater to over 10 cuisines across 15 cities in India.

The startup said in a statement that it will continue to focus on growth, expansion in offline restaurant category and the overall initial public offering (IPO) preparedness.

It added that this onboarding marks a significant milestone, as it looks at onboarding more experts on their leadership in 2024 and plans further growth strategy.

Curefoods has so far raised around $220 Mn in funding from more than 25 investors. It is also on an expansion spree in the food sector. 

The startup recently acquired foodtech startup Yumlane for an undisclosed amount. As a part of this acquisition, Yumlane will leverage the reach of Curefoods to boost its proprietary pizza technology.

In July 2023, it also made a strategic investment in Hyderabad-based millet startup Millet Express to help it expand and reach a wider audience for millet-based products.

This investment was followed by a $37 Mn funding round led by Three State Ventures. 

It has earlier acquired startups such as subscription-based home-cooked meals startup Masala Box, Indian breakfast startup Paratha Box, online confectionery chain CakeZone, biryani brand Ammi’s Biryani, pizza brands Olio and Crusto’s and online chaat brand Chaat Street.