Instant food brand Yu raises Rs 20 cr funding for business expansion

Company says it will 'aggressively expand' presence in US, Africa and West Asia

Yu, the instant meal bowl brand owned by Ikayu Foods, has raised Rs 20 crore in series A funding through a mix of equity and venture debt. The round was led by investor Ashish Kacholia and saw participation from existing investors, Asian Paints’ promoter group Manish Choksi and Varun Vakil.

The company will use the money to double its capacity, ramp up distribution in India, and expand its footprint in Africa, West Asia and the US.

The funding round also saw participation from DPIITs Start Up India Seed Fund scheme which approved Yu under its Rs 945 crores program that funds tech-enabled start-ups, the firm said.

The company said it has developed 15 food products that can be cooked in 4-5 minutes by adding hot water. The food products include noodles, pastas, oats, and halwa.

“The next 12 months will also see us aggressively expanding our presence in global markets like the US, Africa and Middle East. Additionally, it provides us the capacity and resources to penetrate alternate channels like airlines, railways, hospitals, universities and defence services where our 100 per cent natural meal bowls are truly disrupting the segment,” said Yu’s founders Bharat Bhalla and Varun Kapur.

The company said it works with more than 3,000 offline stores, over 100 institutional campuses and exports to South Africa and US. Yu does business with airlines SpiceJet and Akasa Air.

The company said it had over 200 per cent growth quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) and it is on track to sell 1 million bowls by Q3-FY23 (Oct-Dec 2023).