QSR chain Faaso's Food raises $20 million from Lightbox Ventures

Pune headquartered tech-focussed quick service restaurant chain Faaso's Food Services Pvt Ltd has secured $20 million (over Rs 120 crore) funding led by Lightbox Ventures, the firm said in a statement.

Sequoia Capital, which had led a $8 million series A funding round in the firm in 2011, has also participated in the latest round.

"As technology investors, we strive to find ways to use technology to make an impact in people’s lives. What better way than with such a basic need as food?," said Sandeep Murthy, Partner, Lightbox Ventures.

Faaso's was founded in the year 2003 by IIM-Lucknow alumni Jaydeep Barman and Kallol Banerjee. It is a chain of home delivery and takeout outlets serving fresh Indian fast food.

The firm deals in different types of wraps and biryanis. After Pune, Mumbai and Bengaluru, Faaso's recently ventured into Ahmedabad and currently operates around 90 outlets.

Expressing his thoughts on where the raised fund will be put to use, Founder & CEO Barman said, "We will utilise the fund to expand our presence to 15 more Indian cities by March 2016."

Investors are betting on Faasos' ability to leverage technology, both on the backend and frontend, and to emerge as a leader in the domestic QSR market.

"Faaso’s is changing the way Indians address a need that is faced 3 times a day. By servicing the need for food, Faaso’s is poised to be that must have “first page app”," Murthy added further.

The team at Faaso’s had their humble beginnings in the streets of Pune, where they learnt the food business by setting up their first retail outlet. Today, they have evolved into a full-blown tech company, taking orders from the mobile app as well as from web interface.

"By moving from physical retail outlets to a restaurant on the phone, they have found that their repeat customer orders are extremely high. This ease and simplicity has given Faaso’s the ability to generate revenues that are 9x their average customer acquisition cost," shared Murthy.

Sharing his views on the same lines, Barman said, “Our vision is to have consumers open the app, the same way they open their fridge, and ask ‘I wonder what Faaso’s has for dinner tonight’”. We are excited to be participating in this ambitious vision and look forward to working with an accomplished team to further scale this new food experience."