Curefoods, one of the largest cloud kitchen players in India, is betting heavily on its offline play and plans to strengthen it further. The Bengaluru-based company currently has 75 offline outlets across 10 cities. In the next two years, it plans to scale it up to 125 outlets, including quick service restaurants (QSR) and casual dining, across 20 cities. It also aims to simultaneously scale its online cloud kitchens to 400 in 50 cities from the current 300 in 35 cities.
Founded by Ankit Nagori in 2020, the company houses eight brands, including EatFit, CakeZone, Nomad Pizza, Frozen Bottle, Sharief Bhai, and Olio Pizza, catering to 10 cuisines.
Talking to FE, Nagori said that 75-80% of the company’s revenue continues to be online (from cloud kitchens), but very soon at least 35% of the company will come from offline and in five years the offline contribution will be 50%.
Nagori said that in the last four years since it commenced operations, the company has been able to build around five brands with close to Rs 100 crore revenue and now it’s time to go from Rs 100 to Rs 500 crore, for which offline is key. “We are a cloud kitchen-first business, but to touch a Rs 500 crore revenue, we need to be present in categories that are more community-driven or offline-first. And, not being in the offline channel will mean we are leaving money on the table,” he said.
The company has taken Sharief Bhai as the primary brand for offline expansion, with over 40 outlets in Bangalore, Mysore and many cities in Tamil Nadu. It plans to add 10 more Sharief Bhai restaurants in the next couple of months across South India, starting from Kerala. “Biriyani is one category where people go out to eat in groups, it is more of a family outing, a celebration,” he added.
Further, the company aims Rs 1,000-crore revenue run rate in the coming quarters from the current Rs 820 crore (approx). And, by FY27, it plans to touch a Rs 2,000 crore mark. It also aims to turn Ebitda profitable in the next one or two quarters. Talking about the current wave of profitability and corporate governance, he said, “There is no other way of running a business, it has to be profitable and sustainable. Corporate governance should be given utmost importance.”
Before Curefoods, Nagori launched Cure.fit (rebranded as Cult.fit) in 2016 with Mukesh Bansal (founder Myntra). The company launched many verticals including Cultfit, Mindfit, Care.fit and EatFit and in 2020, the food vertical EatFit became an independent entity led by Nagori.
For expansion, the startup, which also counts IronPillar, Chiratae Ventures, ASK Finance and Winter Capital as its marquee investors, is also working on onboarding leaders with different skill sets. Recently, it appointed former Tata Starbucks chief executive officer Avani Davda to its board.
In March this year, the startup recieved a capital infusion of Rs 200 crore from Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal’s fund Three State Ventures. This was part of Curefoods’ ongoing round that started in April 2023 where it raised Rs 300 crore. The fresh proceeds are also being deployed for expanding its offline business.