admin Internet restaurant company Rebel Foods, which turned a unicorn after a recent $175 million funding round, said it will invest $150 million in “strategic” investments and acquisitions in India as well as overseas as it looks to scale existing and new partnerships with over 40 Indian and international food brands.
Details on the Proposed Acquisitions
Rebel Foods operates more than 45 internet kitchen brands through a combination of owned and partner brands in 10 countries. In all, it operates more than 4,000 internet restaurants in 450 kitchen locations. Its in-house brands include Faasos, Behrouz Biryani, and Oven Story Pizza. Under the initiative, Rebel is looking to invest, scale and grow third-party food brands adapting the now famous Thrasio-like model for food. This model works when various companies aggregate small third-party brands with an intent to scale them.
“Through this initiative, we aim to invest in some of the most loved food brands and help them scale through our extensive network to all parts of the country and even internationally like it’s already happening with SLAY, Wendy’s, Biryani Blues and others,” said Raghav Joshi, co-founder at Rebel Foods.
The Proposed Blueprint of Acquiring and Building Brands
Rebel operates a full-stack technology platform, Rebel Operating System (OS), that helps its partner brands scale presence across the Rebel network of over 70 cities in India and globally. In the past, Rebel Foods has scaled brands such as Slay coffee, Naturals Ice Cream, Mad Over Donuts and Wendy’s through its Rebel Launcher program. Mint had earlier reported Rebel’s plans to open 50-100 physical outlets at the food courts dotting India’s highways, airports and office complexes.
Globally, the pandemic has fundamentally changed the experience of eating out. For restaurants, this has meant a quicker shift to tackle online orders and move to contactless menus. As a result, food aggregators and companies such as Rebel have benefitted. While the trend of eating out continues to pick pace as the threat of the pandemic wanes, newer emerging variants could again push diners to remain indoors and choose ordering in instead of eating out.
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