Rebel Foods In 2025: Cloud Kitchen Giant Simmers Down Before IPO Push

Rebel Foods found itself in strange territory this year — having to play catch-up. It was catching up with quick delivery, and its chief rivals Curefoods and Wow! Momo accelerated with expansion and plans for various milestones, including an IPO for Curefoods. 

Rebel Foods, pretty much the biggest name for cloud kitchens in India and creator of some of the most notable QSR brands, was on the backfoot for most of the year. But that doesn’t mean it was an uneventful year for the Temasek-backed unicorn; one could even say it was a year of recalibration and rethinking set ideas. 

The biggest changes came at the leadership level. Cofounder and India CEO Ankush Grover was elevated to global CEO, with Jaydeep Barman transitioning to the role of chairman and group CEO, an organisational reshuffle that aligned with reports of a possible public listing in 2026.

Then came the launch of QuickiES, promising 15-minute food delivery, placing Rebel Foods directly on the turf of Blinkit’s Bistro, Swiggy Snacc, Swish and Zepto Cafe in the growing quick food market. 

Financially, the year reflected this phase of consolidation. Rebel Foods narrowed its net loss to INR 336.6 Cr in FY25 from INR 380.3 Cr a year earlier, while operating revenue grew nearly 14% to INR 1,617.4 Cr. 

While it had long dominated the delivery-only restaurant space, the year marked a conscious attempt to move beyond the cloud kitchen company tag and reset itself as a full-fledged internet restaurant brand. The shift was subtle rather than dramatic.

What began in 2011 as a single-brand, delivery-only experiment with Faasos has grown into a multi-brand food portfolio spanning Behrouz Biryani, Oven Story Pizza, LunchBox, Sweet Truth, The Good Bowl, Mandarin Oak, and Wendy’s, among others. By 2025, Rebel Foods was operating over 450 kitchens across 75 cities in India, alongside an expanding presence in the Middle East, North Africa, Indonesia, and the UK

This global presence is perhaps what sets Rebel Foods apart from the rest of the house of brands, but it’s also a play that may not yield results like profitability which are more desirable in today’s environment, where companies need to shore up their bottom line before anything else. 

Rebel Foods Tightens the Numbers

In many ways, the past fiscal year (FY25) marked a year of financial consolidation for Rebel Foods as it sought to strengthen its IPO narrative ahead of a potential public listing in 2025-26. While profitability remained elusive at the end of March 2025, the company showed clear signs of operating discipline, with losses narrowing and margins steadily improving.

Rebel Foods reported a net loss of INR 336.6 Cr in FY25, down 11.5% from INR 380.3 Cr in the previous fiscal, driven largely by better cost controls and margin expansion. The EBITDA loss declined more sharply, by 25.7%, to INR 127.6 Cr from INR 171.8 Cr in FY24, with EBITDA margins improving 400 basis points to -8% from -12%. The numbers underscored the company’s focus on tightening its unit economics after years of aggressive expansion.

Revenue growth remained steady. Operating revenue rose 13.9% year-on-year to INR 1,617.4 Cr from INR 1,420.2 Cr, while total income increased 11.6% to INR 1,657.9 Cr. The topline momentum was driven primarily by stronger product sales across its portfolio of brands. 

Interestingly, the company also reported INR 19.5 Cr in revenue from financial services—up 26.6% year-on-year which includes income booked from delivery-related services. While still a small contributor, this segment reflects Rebel Foods’ broader push to control more layers of the food delivery value chain through platforms like EatSure.

Alongside operational improvements, the company reportedly raised $25 Mn (around INR 212.7 Cr) from Qatar Investment Authority at a valuation of $1.4 Bn, signalling continued institutional confidence despite the challenging economics of the cloud kitchen model. The fresh capital is expected to be deployed towards expanding its offline footprint, including physical restaurants and food court.

“Rebel Foods now operates around 350 kitchens but the cloud kitchen business continues to demand high operational efficiency. While FY25 showed measurable progress, a clear timeline to EBITDA breakeven is yet to emerge, making execution over the next 12–18 months critical as the company prepares for the public markets,” an executive at a rival cloud kitchen startup said.

QuickiES: The 15-Minute Moonshot

QuickiES was Rebel Foods’ boldest bet of 2025 and also its riskiest. Launched in February, the 15-minute food delivery service was timed perfectly with India’s fast-delivery zeitgeist, as quick commerce started moving far beyond groceries. 

However, Rebel Food’s promise was deliberately aggressive: 15 minutes or free. In an industry where even 30-minute delivery comes with caveats, the guarantee immediately set QuickiES apart. But it also placed enormous pressure on operations such as kitchen readiness, rider availability, menu engineering, and last-mile logistics all had to work in near-perfect sync. 

To ensure the message got through the noise, Rebel Foods backed the launch with a high-decibel marketing blitz. Mumbai was flooded with bold, cheeky hoardings, while ASMR-led food videos, influencer campaigns, in-app promotions, and a dedicated microsite amplified digital buzz. 

Strategically, QuickiES also thrust Rebel Foods into a far more competitive arena. Swiggy and Eterna; already operate quick food delivery layers atop dense restaurant networks and city-wide dark store infrastructure. Newer players like Swish are also experimenting.

Rebel Foods’ edge lies elsewhere. Unlike aggregators, it controls the supply side end-to-end, from kitchen layout and menu design to prep time optimisation.  Still, economics remains challenging. 

Fast food delivery is a low-margin, high-frequency game, where speed often comes at the cost of profitability. In its current form, QuickiES looks less like a standalone profit engine and more like a retention and brand-repositioning play. The company has not shared any data yet on the traction of QuickiES, however, as per sources in the industry, the service has not gained yet much popularity.

Rebel Foods’ Next Act

As India’s food delivery market becomes increasingly saturated, Rebel Foods’ push beyond cloud kitchens is an attempt to de-risk its core business. The company’s expansion into physical restaurants and food courts is less about chasing dine-in volumes and more about strengthening brand visibility, and reducing long-term dependence on aggregator-controlled demand. 

“Offline formats can serve as both a customer acquisition channel and a margin stabiliser, particularly for scaled brands with predictable demand patterns,” the executive quoted above added.

Wendy’s has emerged as the clearest proof point of this strategy. With 200 outlets across 50+ cities in under four years, Rebel Foods has demonstrated its ability to execute a hybrid model that blends cloud kitchens with dine-in and food court presence. 

The strategic shift coincides with a significant leadership reorganisation aimed at IPO readiness. Elevating cofounder Ankush Grover to global CEO centralises operational execution across geographies and functions, while Jaydeep Barman’s move to chairman and group CEO signals a separation between day-to-day execution and long-term strategy. 

“This is a classic pre-IPO governance move” placing a strong operator in charge while founders transition to oversight roles. It improves investor confidence, but also raises expectations on delivery consistency,” he added.

However, execution complexity is rising in parallel. Rebel Foods now operates over 45 brands across cuisines, price points, and formats, a breadth that offers consumer variety but strains operational simplicity. 

Portfolio depth is an advantage until it becomes a drag. At this scale, the challenge isn’t launching brands, rather it’s deciding which ones deserve incremental capital and management attention. Next up is the IPO and the battle against Curefoods and Wow! Momos will only intensify as India’s QSR landscape is shaken up by cloud kitchens and partnerships with global brands. 

As Rebel Foods builds an offline footprint and scales globally, the next phase will test whether its hybrid model can deliver sustained margin improvement without diluting focus.

[Edited by: Nikhil Subramaniam]