Freshmenu Raises $1.64 Mn In Funding Round Led By Lightspeed Ventures

Bengaluru-based foodtech startup Foodvista India Private Limited, which runs FreshMenu, has raised $1.64 Mn (INR 11.7 Cr) in a Series B1 funding round from US-based venture capital firm Lightspeed Ventures and its Indian unit Lightspeed India Partners.

According to a Ministry of Corporate Affairs filings accessed by Inc42, the company has issued 22,465 Series B1, compulsorily convertible participative preference shares, to each of the entities, for $821K (INR 5.86 Cr) each.

The shares have been issued at a nominal value of INR 100, with a premium of INR 2,490.86 per share.

Freshmenu: A Meal For Profits

Founded in 2014 by Rashmi Daga, FreshMenu offers a meal kit delivery service from its 35 cloud kitchens across Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi NCR. It claims to receive 13K orders every day with an average order value of $5 (INR 325), which, incidentally, is close to foodtech unicorn Swiggy’s average order value of $5.39(INR 350).

The company had last been last valued at $50 Mn when it raised its Series B round of $17 Mn led by Zodius Capital in 2016. Prior to this round, the company has raised $21.5 Mn from its investors.

Earlier, in October 2018, reports surfaced that FreshMenu is in early talks with private equity funds to raise nearly $75 Mn as part of its Series C fundraise, at a valuation to $250 Mn.

The company faced a social media uproar in September 2018 when data breach-tracker HaveIBeenPwned.com (HIBP) revealed about a breach in the systems of FreshMenu in July 2016 had exposed personal data, including the names, email addresses, phone numbers, home addresses, and order histories of its customer.

The company had then clarified that it had taken immediate action and worked with AppSecure and Anand Prakash, India’s best-known white hat hacker, “to audit our systems and help us make our system’s security robust.”

For the financial year ending March 2018, the company increased its revenues by 62% against 3.8% increase in its losses. The company’s expenses increased marginally because of employee benefits expenses increasing by 33.3% to $6.3 Mn (INR 44 Cr) and advertising promotional expenses increasing by 6.88% reaching $2.2 Mn (INR 15.38 Cr).

According to an April 2017 report by Netscribes, the online food delivery market in India is expected to grow by 34-36% over 2015 to 2020. Some of the major players that dominate the industry include Foodpanda (acquired by Ola), Swiggy, and Zomato.

In its niche focus of providing full packaged meals, the company rivals Rajesh Sawhney founded InnerChef, Faasos, etc. As the company gears up for fresh funding with a growing customer-base, FreshMenu continues to focus on offering niche meals to a largely urban population.

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