Paytm Invests In Corporate Food Solutions Startup HungerBox

Bengaluru-based food catering startup Hungerbox has raised INR 15.99 Cr in Series C funding round from Paytm parent company One 97 Communications and Sabre Partners Trust.

According to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs filings accessed by Inc42, the company is raising a INR 57.99 Cr ($8.1 Mn) Series C funding round, of which INR 15.99 Cr ($2.23 Mn) has come in. The details showed that One 97 Communications has picked up 17,013 Series C shares at a nominal value of INR 100 with a premium of INR 7,541.03 worth INR 12.99 Cr ($1.8 Mn).

At the same time, Sabre Partners Trust has picked up 3,926 Series C shares at a nominal value of INR 100 with a premium of INR 7,541.03 worth INR 2.99 Cr ($418.3K).

We further noted that this is the first tranche of the INR 57.99 Cr round, and the rest is expected to come in the second tranche. In the second tranche, One 97 Communications has been offered 44,667 shares worth INR 34.13 Cr ($4.75 Mn), bringing the total investment by Paytm to INR 41.12 Cr.

Sabre Partners Trust has been further offered 10,299 shares worth INR 7.86 Cr ($1.09 Mn), bringing its total investment to INR 10.86 Cr.

Founded in 2016 by Sandipan Mitra and Uttam Kumar, HungerBox aims to revolutionise the corporate cafeterias and food courts. The company’s technology includes pre-ordering, live order tracking, digital payments, feedback management, and cafeteria density tracking.

Using the HungerBox app, employees can view the F&B menu provided by all enlisted food vendors at their workplace cafés, place orders and track delivery, and also provide ratings and feedback. The company’s corporate clients include Qualcomm, Microsoft, Accenture, and McKinsey.

It claims to have processed over 50 Mn transactions since inception. The company has raised over $4.5 Mn funding prior to this round from investors such as Lionrock Capital and Infosys cofounder Kris Gopalakrishnan among others.

The reports have been rife with news about Paytm’s investment in HungerBox saying that HungerBox has been growing three times year-on-year, and it fits in with Paytm’s strategy of a deep integrated play across all categories. It was reported that the company will soon start the process of integrating HungerBox with Paytm.

According to reports, spending on food and business in the B2B space alone is estimated to reach $14 Bn in India in 2018 with the sector growing at 15% per annum.

Last year, reports were rife that Swiggy launched a pilot programme for B2B food aggregation — an offering loosely called Swiggy Café or Swiggy Food Court that digitises corporate cafeterias. Swiggy Café/Food Court allows corporate employees to use an app to order lunch from select cafeterias in corporate hubs. It works with vendors to map the flow of incoming orders and intimates customers when their order is ready, thus cutting waiting queues and making the order flow more manageable.

We also have Bengaluru-based foodtech startup SmartQ, which offers the capability to transform any conventional cafeteria into one that is completely digital and cashless.