When others eat humble pie, this foodtech startup has a feast

The past year has served a bitter pill to Indian food startups. Zomato, TinyOwl, Dazo, and FoodPanda have shouldered their share of layoffs, closures, and down scaling. But one online restaurant has been busy celebrating amid this gloom. Even as I write, it is hosting a Pan-Asian food festival!

FreshMenu, which started out from Bangalore in 2014, has since branched out to parts of Mumbai and Delhi-NCR. It was founded by IIM Ahmedabad grads Meena and Krishnan Ganesh, a couple who have been running other successful ventures too. FreshMenu has been steadily winning over customers with its sharp focus on tasty and freshly made food, served within 45 minutes of a booking.

Little surprise then that FreshMenu has just bitten off a huge slice – INR 1.1 billion (US$16.5 million) in a funding round led by Zodius Capital. Existing investor Lightspeed Venture Partners also took part in the funding.

“More than a foodtech company, we are more a tech-enabled food company,” Rashmi Daga, CEO of FreshMenu, was quoted as saying by The Economic Times. The fresh money will be used to hire more employees, expand operations, and build up the brand.

Ingredients to success

Right from the beginning, FreshMenu has held the reins of the kitchen and delivery service. This has helped it maintain checks on food and service quality. Manning its kitchens are over 100 chefs. The prices are quite palatable and the portions big.

You can order a breakfast platter right for INR 150 (US$2.2). With raisin brioche, baked beans, creamed mushrooms with peas and jalapenos, Tex-Mex bean croquette, spiced pineapple jam, and besan chilli paneer wrap all included in that platter, it sounds like a breakfast fit for kings.

And its menu changes every day. At the ongoing Pan-Asian food festival you can chomp on some teriyaki tofu or Thai rice with minced chicken to your heart’s content, for a price of INR 200 (US$3). The promise is to deliver a colorful platter of Asian curries, spices, and culture right to your doorstep.

I remember how a friend swore by it on a recent trip to Bangalore and our Tech in Asia team ended up ordering FreshMenu for lunch. The food arrived in time, and my chicken quesadillas were hot and tasty. The customer feedback on their website has people praising their timeliness, variety, and even the packaging.

The bitter-sweet story of India’s food startups

Startup data provider Tracxn estimates that over 30 food-tech startups raised seed or angel funding last year but next stage funding has not been as forthcoming.