itiffin in talks to raise $10 mn, plans pan-India presence

The start-up supplies food to about 2,500 customers/ day in Bengaluru today

Concern over unhealthful food available across food chains in India turned Tapan Kumar Das into an entrepreneur. iTiffin, a start-up launched two years ago by Das, aiming at providing nutritious health food for the urban Indian, supplies food to more than 2,500 customers a day in Bengaluru. iTiffin has sold 200,000 meals since 2013.

iTiffin plans a pan-India expansion, with an investment of $10 million (mn), for which Das has started discussions with venture capital investors.

Last year, iTiffin had raised $1 mn (Rs 6 crore) from a family-run ingredient export company in Bengaluru, by diluting about 20 per cent. Now, the valuation expectation has shot up by 10 times to Rs 300 crore for the proposed $10-mn fund-raising by diluting another 20-25 per cent stake. Cricketer Robin Uthappa also invested about Rs 1 crore in iTiffin.

Das, a former vice-president at Flipkart and co-founder of iTiffin, said, "India has a huge population with growing disposable income, but lacks health. People are struggling to keep the work-life balance with a proper healthful diet, where food plays an important role."

"We can differentiate ourselves from other quick service restaurants on the basis of sourcing and processing of food. We source right ingredients and ensure not to lose nutritional value after processing. The minimal quantity of food is based not only in terms of social responsibility but also on what the body needs," Das added.

According to Das, iTiffin keeps expanding the product portfolio and recently launched a diet for diabetes and cardiac patients. The proposed fund will be used for setting up a centralised kitchen at each city iTiffin is entering. By the end of 2015, iTiffin plans to launch business in cities like Gurgaon, Mumbai, Pune, and Chennai.

iTiffin was founded in 2013-end by Das and Ryan Fernando, who also runs Qua Nutrition.

Against the backdrop of people's awareness of healthful food, more and more start-ups are getting established in this space. Hence, angel and venture capital investors are keen on pumping money into them.  

In February, Gurgaon-based online meal service start-up Frsh.com raised Rs 3 crore in seed funding from early-stage investors India Quotient and KAE Capital. A Bengaluru-based meals delivery start-up, SpoonJoy, had raised angel funding from investors led by Sachin Bansal of Flipkart and Sahil Barua of Delhivery in December 2014.