Bengaluru-based QSR startup Auntie Fung’s has recently raised Rs 3.35 crore in an angel round led by India Angel Network. The round was led by angel investors Anjali Malhotra, Ajay Rajgarhia, and Nitin Jain. The round also saw participation from Lead Angels, Lets Venture, and Chandigarh Angels.
Previously, the startup had raised seed funding from marquee investor Raja V, former Vice Chairman and MD of Philips India and former President and CEO of GE Healthcare, India.
Auntie Fung’s plans to use majority of the freshly infused capital to open new cloud kitchens. The remaining will be used to build back-end capability around supply chain and technology, hire key talent from the culinary world, and build brand awareness.
The brand is the brainchild of Subhradeep Bhowmik and Satrajit Das. Their passion for food and hunger to build a brand at scale in the Asian street food space prompted them to quit their cushy, corporate jobs and plunge into the world of entrepreneurship. Thus, they started Auntie Fung’s in 2015.
Subhradeep Bhowmik, Co-Founder of Auntie Fung’s said, “During the new normal, we were quick to adapt to delivery model and are looking at scaling up via cloud kitchens and delivery model for the next 12-15 months. We have adopted a cluster-based approach that helps us getting rich with dividends as we further penetrate other locations in Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR. This fundraise will enable us to strengthen our technology backend and streamline our supply chain.”
Satrajit Das, Co-Founder and COO of Auntie Fung’s added, “Our cloud kitchen will help us provide a differentiated product offering with fast scale-up and depth of reach. In the last six years, the company has been able to build a sustainable venture. This latest investment further asserts investors’ confidence in our value proposition and growth potential in the upcoming years.”
Ajay Rajgarhia, Lead Investor at IAN said, “Asian street food is a worldwide phenomenon and celebrated for the electrifying experience it provides to consumers. Chinese and Asian cuisine has a market share of 21.2 percent, which is the second-highest among all the cuisines in India.”
“The Indian Cloud kitchen market is expected to grow five-fold from 2019 to 2024 to reach $ 2 billion and we expect Auntie Fung’s to grow even faster and become a brand to reckon with” ,said Manish Johari, SVP – Lead Angels
Within the umbrella of Asian cuisine, the company wants to explore different pockets of opportunity and build an innovation pipeline for its consumers with Bao, Sushi, and other upcoming food choices.
