Cloud kitchen Rebel Foods becomes third Indian unicorn this week; raises $175 million

India got its 31st unicorn on October 7 when Rebel Foods raised $175 million in a Series F round led by Qatar Investment Authority (QIA). Rebel Foods, which is the world's largest internet restaurant company, has increased its valuation to a staggering  $1.4 billion. Meanwhile, the valuation was $800 million last year.

Rebel Foods is the first business in India that has become a unicorn in the cloud kitchen space. A cloud kitchen is a segment that offers a dine-in facility and accepts orders only via an online ordering system. Until the latest round of fundraising, Rebel Foods had raised a total of $342.3 million from various investors that included the likes of Goldman Sachs, Sequoia, Coatue Management and Indonesian ride-hailing company Go-Jek.

Rebel Foods planning an IPO within two years

According to PTI, Rebel Foods Chief Financial Officer Piyush Kakkad said that his team were excited about becoming the next unicorn, but insisted it was important for them to continue 'improving customer experience the Rebel way. Speaking of how the funding will be utilized, Kakkad said that they would reinvest it in building their technology and increasing their global presence. The CFO also added that the firm is working towards launching an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the next 18-24 months.

Rebel Foods' competitors

While Rebel Foods has various competitors around the world, it only competes with Ola Foods in India. Ola Foods is the food business arm of Ola, which is expanding its network of cloud kitchens to increase customers. When it comes to universal competition, Rebel Foods competes with food delivery firms such as DoorDash, Uber Eats and Deliveroo, which have also entered the cloud kitchen space.

Rebel Foods' worldwide presence

Rebel Foods, which was founded in 2011 by INSEAD alumni Jaydeep Barman and Kallol Banerjee, operate the largest amount of internet restaurants in the world. The company is known for brands such as Faasos and Behrouz Biryani and has built over 45 brands across 10 nations: India, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Philippines and Bangladesh. In total, it operates over 4,000 internet restaurants. Moreover, the company operates over 450 kitchens around the world in more than 60 cities and 10 countries.