City-based start-up company Red Sprout Foods Pvt Ltd, which runs quick-service restaurant chain, Hello Curry, plans to raise about `60 crore as part of its second round of funding next year.
The company closed its first round of seed funding of `3 crore from SRI Capital, a `100-crore seed stage venture fund floated by serial entrepreneur Sashi Reddi on Thursday. Reddi is picking up an undisclosed stake in the company with this investment.
Hello Curry, which serves Indian food including biryani, kebabs and curries paired with rice and parathas, will use the seed fund to set up two stand-alone stores, four store-in-stores and two satellite kitchens across the city. With a fixed delivery time of 30 minutes within a 4-km radius, Hello Curry claims to be the first to offer quick service as against the industry average of 45 minutes. Typically, it requires an investment of about
`20 to 30 lakh to set up one outlet and the company is targeting to achieve break-even by July this year.
“This is an incremental investment and we will go for another round of investment next year, when we firm up plans to enter Chennai and Bangalore,” said Raju Bhupati, director of Red Sprout.
Meanwhile, this is SRI Capital’s first investment in food-based segment. Of the `100 crore, SRI has already invested about Rs 50 crore in 15 start-ups based in Hyderabad and the US, traditionally in technology, media and education sectors. It plans to invest another `20 cr by December.
Reddi floated SRI Capital, following the acquisition of independent software testing firm AppLabs, by CSC Corp in 2011.
“Hello Curry has the potential to become the McDonald’s, Dominos and Pizza Hut of India. It has the potential to change the way we think of Indian food,” Reddi claimed.