Exclusive: Curefoods closes its $50-million Series C funding round

House of Food Brands Curefoods has closed its Series C round of $50 million from a mix of new and existing investors, according to people aware of the matter. The round was led by Winter Capital along with other investors including Chiratae Ventures and Accel Partners. With this round, the company has so far raised over $120 million in equity and venture debt. 

Moneycontrol has also learnt that the new funds will used towards the expansion of its acquired brands into new geographies and for acquisition of new brands.

In its last round, earlier this year, the startup was valued in the range of $250-$400 million.

Led by Ankit Nagori, Curefoods has been following a Thrasio-style model wherein it acquires mid-sized food brands. Nagori founded the startup after moving out of CureFit and has so far acquired a mix of small and medium-sized brands such as Juno's Pizza, CakeZone, Iceberg, MasalaBox, and White Kitchens, Homeplate. 

CureFoods did not comment on the development.

In an interaction earlier with Moneycontrol, Nagori said that CureFoods aims to have 4-5 (40 percent of its business) national brands with a larger appeal (like desserts, Indian food, healthy food) and 10-15 (60 percent) regional brands, which will include a biryani brand, regional cuisines, and craft brands of that particular region.

The Bengaluru-based startup competes with Rebel Foods, Biryani by Kilo, and EatClub (formerly known as Box8), which are at the forefront of this industry, and are building house of food brands. This strategy is similar to the one followed by US-based breakout startup Thrasio, which acquires top-rated and fast-growing sellers on Amazon, helping them with technology, digital marketing, and sales chops to turbocharge growth.

With the recent funding crunch and direct-to-consumer brands seeing stagnating growth, customer-acquisition challenges and intense competition, experts say that 'House of Brands' model will see more traction this year, as brands will be looking at more investments and acquisitions.