Rebel Foods enters unicorn club with $175 Mn round led by QIA

Cloud kitchen brand Rebel Foods has raised $175 million in its Series F round led by Qatar Investment Authority and participated by existing investors Coatue and Evolvence.

The company has raised the fresh round at a valuation of $1.4 billion, joining the coveted club of unicorns. The company was valued at $820 million in July last year.

​​This round of funding will be re-invested in building technology, increasing global presence and also acquiring new brands, said Rebel Foods in a press statement.

According to the company, it is also working towards an IPO in the next 18-24 months. It will join the ranks of Urban Company, Droom and others who are contemplating public listing in a similar time frame.

Rebel Foods becomes the 31st unicorn this year and the first from the foodtech space. On Wednesday, crypto exchange CoinSwicth Kuber entered the unicorn club with a $260 million round. Fresh meat and seafood brand Licious also made entry into the coveted club this month.

Apart from its own app [EatSure], the company sells via online ordering platforms: Swiggy and Zomato. According to industry sources, over two-thirds of its volume comes from these two aggregators. It also invests in relevant businesses and had increased its holdings in FoodBuddy and DropKaffe last year.

Rebel Foods, which owns brands such as Faasos, Behrouz Biryani and Ovenstory Pizza, claims to operate more than 45 brands across 10 countries - India, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Philippines and Bangladesh.

Rebel Foods claimed 100% YoY growth and eyeing profitability with an annual run rate of $150 million. While the company is yet to file its annual financial report for the last fiscal, it recorded operating revenue of Rs 557 crore in FY20 against Rs 1,025 crore expenditure. During FY20, the Mumbai-based company had incurred Rs 445 crore loss.