Cloud Kitchens Turning Up The Heat In India’s Food Delivery Paradigm

India’s food delivery ecosystem is rapidly evolving on the back of three critical elements — technology, a change in eating patterns and the rise of the gig economy. 

However, beyond the obvious, the advent of cloud kitchens, being spearheaded by budding and aspiring chefs and restaurateurs, seems to be shaping the country’s food and beverage industry.

Unlike restaurants, cloud kitchens eliminate the need for traditional setups and rather focus on faster order processing and delivery times to cater to the rising demand on online food delivery platforms. 

Plus, fuelling the spurt in the number of cloud kitchens in the last few years has been factors like lower entry barriers and little capital requirement.

Interestingly, just as many small businesses and restaurants adopted the model, many saw an opportunity to build full-fledged businesses in this segment. This gave rise to the likes of unicorns like Rebel Foods, which today is hosting multiple food brands under one roof.

What has further fuelled the rise of cloud kitchens in India is the tech-led approach of players in the ecosystem. Leveraging customer data like preferences, popular dishes, and peak hours, cloud kitchens gauge demand and make more informed and data-driven decisions to drive sales.

As of now, the country’s cloud kitchen market is expected to breach the $3 Bn mark by FY31. It is in this spirit that we have compiled a list of the most prominent names in India’s cloud kitchen space. 

Editor’s Note: This is neither an exhaustive list nor a ranking of any kind. We have listed the startups alphabetically.

Biryani By Kilo

Founded in 2015 by Kaushik Roy, Ritesh Sinha and Vishal Jindal, Gurugram-headquartered Biryani By Kilo (BBK) serves regional variations in dum-cooked biryani such as Hyderabadi (Kutchi) Biryani, the Lucknowi (Pukki) Biryani and the Kolkata Biryani. 

Besides, the cloud kitchen setup offers different types of kebabs and korma across more than 45 Indian cities. It has more than 100 outlets in the country.

In December 2023, BBK raised about $9 Mn (INR 72 Cr) in its Series C funding round led by Alpha Wave Ventures. This was two years after the startup raised $35 Mn in a Series B round from Falcon Edge Capital, SBI and IvyCap Ventures, among others, in November 2021. 

It has raised over $50 Mn in total funding to date and directly competes with Rebel Foods’ Behrouz Biryani and Biryani Blues and Bengaluru-based Potful. 

Curefoods

Accel-backed cloud kitchen platform Curefoods was founded in 2020 by Ankit Nagori and houses brands like EatFit, CakeZone, Nomad Pizza, Sharief Bhai Biryani and Frozen Bottle.  

Curefoods claims to operate over 200 cloud kitchens and offline stores, offering more than 10 cuisines across 15 Indian cities.

In March 2024, the cloud kitchen startup secured INR 200 Cr (around $25 Mn) from Flipkart cofounder Binny Bansal’s fund Three State Ventures.

The company is on an expansion spree and has made multiple acquisitions in the food sector. In October 2023, it acquired pizza brand Yumlane for an undisclosed amount. In July 2023, Curefoods made a strategic investment in Hyderabad-based millet startup Millet Express.

Other than the aforementioned brands, curefoods houses Olio, Rolls on Wheels, Great Indian Khichdi, Home Plate, Juno’s Pizza and Ovenfresh.  

EatClub Brands

Rebranded in 2021 from BOX8, which was founded in 2012 by Amit Raj and Anshul Gupta, EatClub Brands is a full stack cloud kitchen company that operates brands like Mojo Pizza, BOX8, Itminaan Biryani, WeFit, LeanCrust Pizza, Daily Kitchen, The Ghee Khichdi Project, Globo Ice Creams, NH1 Bowls, ZAZA Mughal Biryani, Legends of Amritsar, BOOM Sub Sandwich and Mealful Rolls. 

The startup claims to have a network of more than 300 kitchens in cities like Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, and Kolkata. In December 2021, it raised $40 Mn in a funding round led by Tiger Global. 

FreshMenu

Founded in 2014 by Rashmi Daga, FreshMenu offers a meal kit delivery service from its cloud kitchens located in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, and Kolkata, among other cities. The Bengaluru-based startup claims to keep altering its menu as well as recipes for customers. 

It is backed by marquee investors such as Lightspeed Partners, Zodius Capital, and Innoven Capital. 

In 2022, the startup bagged $6.5 Mn or INR 50 Cr from former Blackstone India MD Cyriac Mathew’s Florintree Advisors. In 2015, it raised $5 Mn in Series A from Lightspeed Partners and then in 2016, it raised $17 Mn in Series B round from Zodius Capital. 

Ghost Kitchens

Incorporated in 2019 by Karan Tanna, Ghost Kitchens offers food under the brands Wakka Makka, SpeakBurgers By Chef Vicky Ratnani, New York Waffles and Starboy Pizza. 

It currently runs more than 15 self-owned cloud kitchens in Mumbai and Ahmedabad and partners with over 1,200 restaurants across 40 cities in India. It counts GVFL, NB Ventures, LetsVenture and Yuj Ventures among its backers.

In April, the company bought Ahmedabad-based cloud kitchen startup The Shy Tiger in an all-cash deal.

In February, Ghost Kitchens raised $5 Mn (around INR 41 Cr) as part of its Series A funding round led by GVFL, with participation from NB Ventures, LetsVenture and Lead Angels. 

Kitchens@

Bengaluru-based Kitchens@ offers shared kitchen solutions to food brands and provides space for expansion and solutions for scaling up. 

The startup, founded in 2018 by Junaiz Kizhakkayil, works with restaurants such as Taco Bell, Subway, Nando’s, Mainland China, Domino’s, Barbeque Nation, Chaayos and Wow Momos across the country.

In June this year, London-based private equity firm Finnest reportedly picked up a majority stake in Kitchens@ after investing INR 1,335 Cr ($160 Mn) in the company.

In 2023, it raised $65 Mn (INR 541 Cr) in its Series C funding from Finnest. Besides, Kitchens@ also acquired Swiggy Access Kitchen, expanding to six major cities and 45 locations, with a network of 700 kitchens.

Rebel Food

Founded in 2011 by Jaydeep Barman and Kallol Banerjee, the IPO-bound cloud kitchen startup, Rebel Food, houses popular brands such as Faasos, Behrouz Biryani and Sweet Truth. 

It operates a chain of online restaurants and earns revenue from the sale of food items through its own cloud kitchens as well as those owned by third parties. 

It is backed by the likes of Peak XV Partners, Coatue and Lightbox and has raised more than $549 Mn in funding to date. Singapore state investor Temasek is reportedly looking to acquire a significant stake in the startup. 

Rebel Food claims to offer services in 70 cities across 10 countries, operating nearly 450 kitchens. Other than the aforementioned brands it also houses Ovenstory Pizza, Mandarin Oak, Firangi Bake, Lunch Box, The Good Bowl, The Biryani Life, and Wendy’s. 

Salad Days 

Gurugram-based Salad Days is a food delivery chain founded in 2013 by Varun Madan. It operates 21 cloud kitchens, five in Bengaluru, four in Mumbai and 12 in Delhi. It is a delivery-only chain that grows and serves salads at affordable prices. 

Notably, the company has been running on a bootstrapped model so far, and claims to have doubled its FY24 revenue from INR 35 Cr a fiscal ago. Hopping on the trend of digital collectibles, the company partnered with OneRare last year, to introduce limited edition Salad Days NFTs.