Tiger Global leads $23 Mn round in Wow! Momo

Tiger Global has gained all the limelight since its second coming in the Indian startup ecosystem. After leading half a dozen deals in the B2B segment, the firm went on funding a clutch of consumer Internet firms such as Cred, INDWealth, UrbanClap and Vedantu.

The move touted as balancing strategy for the hedge fund, under a new leader, Scott Shleifer. The fund is also venturing into funding unusual businesses as it led $23 million fresh round in Wow! Momo.

The deal will also have a secondary component. Wow! Momo's early investor IAN will get a partial exit from the company. It will pocket around 7X return for Rs 10 crore investment back in 2015.

Following the round Wow! Momo Foods, which owns and operates quick-service restaurant (QSR) brands Wow! Momo and Wow! China, is now valued at around $120 million.

A year ago, Wow! Momo was valued at about $42 million after Rs 3 crore investment from William Bissell, Managing Director, FabIndia.

Apart from valuation, the firm has increased its presence and now operates through 282 outlets of Wow! Momo and 11 outlets of Wow! China across 15 cities. The latter product was launched in March 2019.

The fresh proceeds will be allocated to scale its operations further, research and development to reach out to a larger consumer base within the country. Moreover, it is looking to build a hybrid operating model - physical stores and cloud kitchens - to cater to the growing delivery business.

According to a Mint report, the Kolkata-based firm expects to earn Rs 190 crore in revenue in FY20. It claims to clock a monthly run rate of over Rs 15 crore and opening over ten new stores every month.

For Tiger Global, 2019 has become the most successful year after its three-year hiatus from the local ecosystem. So far in 2019, it invested in over 18 growth and early-stage startups including $75 million round in UrbanClap; $67 million round in OkCredit; $60 million in Moglix and $42 million round in Vedantu.