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HungerBox Raises $4.5M in Series A Led by South Korea’s Neoplux and Sabre Capital
Daily orders on HungerBox platform exceed 5 million per month as company views expansion to Southeast Asia
HungerBox, India’s B2B food tech leader, has closed a $4.5 million series A investment round led by South Korea-based investment firm Neoplux, and India-focussed PE fund, Sabre Partners, with participation from Lionrock Capital (Singapore) and Infosys Cofounder Kris Gopalakrishnan.
HungerBox clocks more than six million orders a month (200,000+ orders per day) across 160 digital cafeterias that it currently manages around the country for corporations including Qualcomm, Microsoft, FirstSource, Accenture, CapGemini, Genpact, ABB and McKinsey.
The funds will be deployed to support HungerBox’s rapid growth in India as well as fuel the company’s expansion into the South East Asian market.
“HungerBox has emerged as a clear No. 1 in India’s high-growth B2B food tech space. The strength of their technology-led solution, deep penetration into large corporate accounts and carefully calibrated growth means their business is extremely robust. We are delighted to partner this exciting company as they harness the potential for disruption in the corporate catering space in other markets beyond India,” said Alex Noh, head of cross-border investment, Neoplux.
“The ‘asset-light’ nature of HungerBox’s model and use of technology enables scale. The company’s solution has been proven at some of the biggest corporations in India. There is great potential to grow in other markets, especially elsewhere in the region as their clients’ own operations expand. We look forward to working with the HungerBox team as they continue to transform the way large businesses handle their corporate food wellness and their F&B requirements,” said Rajiv Maliwal, founder and managing partner, Sabre Partners.
HungerBox employs 400 staff across India and was started by Sandipan Mitra and Uttam Kumar, who are both veterans of the food tech space in India whose previous stints included global food takeaway ordering service Just Eat’s India operations. HungerBox is promoted by GrowthStory, the venture-builder platform founded by serial entrepreneurs, K Ganesh and Meena Ganesh.
Sandipan Mitra, CEO and cofounder, HungerBox, said, “We are seeing our business growing exponentially. Employee headcount has doubled to over 400 in less than six months; daily orders exceed 200,000 from 120,000 in the same period. We are now present in 9 cities. Many of our clients are MNCs and we have been receiving many requests for us to support them in markets outside India. Having marquee investors place their faith in us boosts our prospects, especially as we expand our operational footprint.”
According to estimates, spending on F&B in the B2B space alone, is estimated to reach $14 billion in India in 2018 with the sector growing at around 15 percent per annum.
HungerBox, which started in 2016, operates across Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi/NCR, Jaipur and Kolkata. The company’s seamless, tech-led solution enables end-to-end digital cafeteria management with its proprietary technology platform connecting food vendors to employees within client organizations through a customised mobile app available to each employee.
Using the app, employees can view the F&B menu provided by all enlisted food vendors at their workplace café’s, place orders and track delivery accurately. They can also provide ratings and feedback. HungerBox’s solution provides admin teams at the client organization with the ability to track the entire F&B operation including food consumption, orders, and feedback in real-time. More than 50 different payment methods are integrated into the service offering including in-app purchases by an employee, payment via smart cards, m-wallets, self-serve kiosks at the café’s etc.
HungerBox uses latest technology advancements like IoT in its solution to seamlessly connect the vendor side hardware (designed by HungerBox) and employees of corporate. The HungerBox solution also provides features like ‘Personalized Recommendations’ to employees through its AI-driven technology, ‘Health Mode’, for health-conscious employees, and is able to undertake group- orders from restaurants in the vicinity when corporate cafés are closed.
HungerBox clocks more than six million orders a month (200,000+ orders per day) across 160 digital cafeterias that it currently manages around the country for corporations including Qualcomm, Microsoft, FirstSource, Accenture, CapGemini, Genpact, ABB and McKinsey.
The funds will be deployed to support HungerBox’s rapid growth in India as well as fuel the company’s expansion into the South East Asian market.
“HungerBox has emerged as a clear No. 1 in India’s high-growth B2B food tech space. The strength of their technology-led solution, deep penetration into large corporate accounts and carefully calibrated growth means their business is extremely robust. We are delighted to partner this exciting company as they harness the potential for disruption in the corporate catering space in other markets beyond India,” said Alex Noh, head of cross-border investment, Neoplux.
“The ‘asset-light’ nature of HungerBox’s model and use of technology enables scale. The company’s solution has been proven at some of the biggest corporations in India. There is great potential to grow in other markets, especially elsewhere in the region as their clients’ own operations expand. We look forward to working with the HungerBox team as they continue to transform the way large businesses handle their corporate food wellness and their F&B requirements,” said Rajiv Maliwal, founder and managing partner, Sabre Partners.
HungerBox employs 400 staff across India and was started by Sandipan Mitra and Uttam Kumar, who are both veterans of the food tech space in India whose previous stints included global food takeaway ordering service Just Eat’s India operations. HungerBox is promoted by GrowthStory, the venture-builder platform founded by serial entrepreneurs, K Ganesh and Meena Ganesh.
Sandipan Mitra, CEO and cofounder, HungerBox, said, “We are seeing our business growing exponentially. Employee headcount has doubled to over 400 in less than six months; daily orders exceed 200,000 from 120,000 in the same period. We are now present in 9 cities. Many of our clients are MNCs and we have been receiving many requests for us to support them in markets outside India. Having marquee investors place their faith in us boosts our prospects, especially as we expand our operational footprint.”
According to estimates, spending on F&B in the B2B space alone, is estimated to reach $14 billion in India in 2018 with the sector growing at around 15 percent per annum.
HungerBox, which started in 2016, operates across Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi/NCR, Jaipur and Kolkata. The company’s seamless, tech-led solution enables end-to-end digital cafeteria management with its proprietary technology platform connecting food vendors to employees within client organizations through a customised mobile app available to each employee.
Using the app, employees can view the F&B menu provided by all enlisted food vendors at their workplace café’s, place orders and track delivery accurately. They can also provide ratings and feedback. HungerBox’s solution provides admin teams at the client organization with the ability to track the entire F&B operation including food consumption, orders, and feedback in real-time. More than 50 different payment methods are integrated into the service offering including in-app purchases by an employee, payment via smart cards, m-wallets, self-serve kiosks at the café’s etc.
HungerBox uses latest technology advancements like IoT in its solution to seamlessly connect the vendor side hardware (designed by HungerBox) and employees of corporate. The HungerBox solution also provides features like ‘Personalized Recommendations’ to employees through its AI-driven technology, ‘Health Mode’, for health-conscious employees, and is able to undertake group- orders from restaurants in the vicinity when corporate cafés are closed.
Source: BW Disrupt
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