NOVEMBER 20219FOOD DELIVERY SERVICES BIRYANI BY KILO GARNERS $35 MILLION FROM ALPHA WAVE VENTURES & OTHERSiryani by Kilo (BBK), a food delivery service, has se-cured $35 million in a Series B investment led by Fal-con Edge venture capital arm Alpha Wave Ventures. SBI and IvyCap Ven-tures, who had previously invested in the company, also took part in the round. Vishal Jindal and Kaushik Roy launched the Gurugram-based com-pany in 2015, and it now has over 60 locations in over 25 cities. The funds will be used to build the company's Biryani brand, with the goal of having over 200 shops by the end of 2024. BBK also plans to grow into interna-tional markets and use the funds to buy other F&B cloud kitchen brands. Dine-in currently accounts for 10 percent of the company's revenue. The current fiscal year's revenue run rate is Rs.150 crore. Navroz Udwadia, Co-Founder and Partner, Falcon Edge Capital stated that "BBK has built a strong brand with a scalable business mod-el and best-in-class unit econom-ics". Falcon Edge has also invested $15 million in cloud kitchen compa-ny Hygiene BigBites. The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled the growth of cloud kitchens, which are cooking facilities dedicated to preparing de-livery-only orders. According to data from industry tracker Tracxn, overall funding for cloud kitchen companies has doubled in 2021 to $234.2 million as of October, compared to $112.4 million in all of 2020. Rebel Foods, a cloud kitchen firm, also intends to grow its brands abroad.In October, it announced a part-nership with Foodpanda, a Food and Grocery delivery service, to extend revenue streams by allow-ing Foodpanda's restaurant part-ners to plug and play Rebel Foods brands in international markets. Online and delivery-focused food firms have exploded in popularity in the last 18-24 months, according to sources, as they have emerged as a cost-effective method to preserve business continuity and expand cus-tomer reach in an industry that was severely harmed by the pandemic. Although shops are re-opening as the pandemic subsides, delivery-on-ly firms are maintaining a steady cash stream by catering to those who prefer to order in rather than eat out. BBudding BizzBiryani by Kilo (BBK) also plans to grow into international markets and use the funds to buy other F&B cloud kitchen brands
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