Cybiz Corp raises $2 mn to expand Carl's Jr restaurants

Cybiz has already raised $2 Million through Private Equity investors and aims to raise $20 Million in tranches for the company’s goal to expand the Carl’s Jr brand to 100 restaurants. Early stage investors include- Now Foods, the Delhi based investment firm which also has equity positions in franchises of Boombox Café and Café OTB and QSR franchises in international markets.

Now Foods provides a unique combination of capital, strategy & operational expertise through its well networked and highly experienced management team and advisory board. “We focus on an ‘invest and build’ model and believe in becoming a value added financial partner”-added Ankit Gupta, Co-founder Now Foods.

Indian Food and Dining space has been witnessing new entrants and interest from the investor community along the entire value chain. Recent developments include PE investors acquiring Yum Brands (South & West India Franchisee rights); Dabur Group’s Burman Hospitality franchisee deal with Taco Bell for North India, Logistics and warehousing provider Snowman receiving expansion capital, and investor interest in the much-awaited Cafe Coffee Day’s INR 1,150 cr public issue.

Investors in the F&B sector need to analyze if the market can expand as well as absorb the unorganised sector fast enough to accommodate new players without near term loss of profit.

The QSR space is expected to witness 26% growth each year to reach INR 117 bn by 2017 from the current INR 60 bn.

“Carl’s Jr. offers unique value to customers resolving the consumers’ ‘Fast’ vs. ‘Quality’ choice conundrum. The business model is based on a lean (locally sourced) supply chain, stringent quality assurance program, along with an expansion strategy that is nimble through COCO and eventually a FOCO model. Moreover, the business model is grounded in reality – accounting for high rental costs in premium markets and ensuring healthy operating cash flows- which in turn will keep the payback periods short(outlet level)

With the growing digital adoption of food ordering systems and marketing reach through social platforms- companies that are able to demonstrate digital leadership will flourish in the long run. The Carl’s Jr. team has put a roadmap in place using its technology partnersincluding MICROS (owned by Oracle) and 3M. Integration with digital payment channels, customized loyalty programs accessible through mobile are under development. A data analysis team based out of India and Singapore will aid in real time strategy development. 

With a vision for expansion Carl’s Jr. India has developed its vendor and supply network as a task force, with each participant involved in understanding and mapping out of long term business targets. A dedicated finance team is exploring usage of financial instruments and contracts to manage commodity price volatility, exchange rate exposure and put a plan in place to consistently reduce COGS over the course of expansion.” said Sahil Baweja, Director, CybizBrightStar Restaurants.

“In addition to the first round of capital infusion, Now Foods has provided real estate advisory and project management support, as well as aided in developing the go to market strategy, proving to be a great value-added financial partner.” commented Samir Chopra on having Now Foods as his investing partner.

 Confident in its first tryst with the Cybiz Group, Now Foods is expanding its portfolio with the Cybiz group with becoming equity partners in Boombox Café-Rajouri Garden (launching in July) and Café OTB-P.