Foodpanda, the Ola-owned online food ordering and delivery startup, has acquired Mumbai-based foodtech startup Holachef Hospitality Pvt. Ltd, which had shut down operations in July-August this year, for an undisclosed amount.
Foodpanda will take over Holachef’s employees and kitchen equipments. Founders of Holachef, Anil Gelra, Gaurav Srivastava and Saurabh Saxena, will join the leadership team at Foodpanda.
The acquisition however is believed to bring bring no returns to its investors of Holachef, which include InnoVen Capital, Kalaari Capital, India Quotient, SIDBI Venture Capital and Ratan Tata. Holachef raised a total of $9.6 million in funding over eight rounds since 2015. The last funding raised by Holachef was in February this year when it raised Rs.20 lakhs in Series B round.
A media report in Augst has suggested that Kalaari Capital and India Quotient had already resigned from the board of directors of HolaChef earlier this year.
HolaChef acquisition comes within two months after Mumbai-based on demand delivery firm Scootsy was acquired by food delivery firm Swiggy, which is Foodpanda’s biggest rival in India besides Zomato.
Notably, Holachef is Ola’s second acquisition within a year, since it had bought Foodpanda from Germany’s Delivery Hero in December last year.
HOlaChef was founded in 2015 by Saurabh Saxena, Anil Gelra and Gaurav Srivastava. Essentially, HolaChef used to curates chefs ranging from executive chefs to amateurs and allows them creative freedom through their signature dishes. Before shutting its operation three months back, the company was managing the logistics of the food (packaging, storage & delivery).
HolaChef Founders (L-R)- Saurabh Saxena & Anil Gelra
Image – BusinessStandard.com
With this acquisition, Foodpanda will foray into cloud kitchens and also plans to launch its own food brand across categories. The company claims to have a network of over 1 lakh delivery partners and access to over 150 million customers.
“We aim to build India’s largest cloud kitchen network that will be a major step in further elevating the food experience for our customers,” said Pranay Jivrajka, chief executive at Foodpanda. “I am delighted to welcome the Holachef team on board and look forward to their joining us in our mission of delivering superior food experiences to a billion Indians.”
“We are delighted to join hands with Foodpanda to accelerate our mission. We are thrilled to be part of Foodpanda’s and Ola’s passionate team that is truly changing the food experience for a billion Indians,” said Saurabh Saxena, co-founder and chief executive at Holachef.
Meanwhile, an another online food delivery player, FreshMenu is reportedly in talks to raise $25-30 million from new and existing investors.
Source: IndianWeb2
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