Curefoods, a cloud kitchen startup, has merged with Maverix, a competitor backed by Accel Partners, Swiggy, and Zephyr.
According to people familiar with the deal, Curefoods will be valued at around $280 million, or about Rs 2,100 crore, after the merger. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed by the companies.
Curefoods will have 125 kitchens across 12 cities after merging with Maverix, which has over 50 locations in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. This will make it one of the country’s largest cloud kitchen players. As part of the deal, it will take on three Maverix brands and about 500 employees.
Curefoods raised $62 million earlier this month from Iron Pillar, Chiratae Ventures, Sixteenth Street Capital, Accel Partners, and Binny Bansal, co-founder of Flipkart. As it looks to bolster its brand portfolio, it is in talks to raise another $50-75 million, which could close in the next few months, according to sources cited earlier.
“Together, we now have the largest manufacturing capability in the fresh food space,” Curefoods founder Ankit Nagori said in a statement. “We are confident that our combined growth and stronger-than-ever platform will benefit our consumers on their quest for the best food options in India.”
Maverix was founded in 2015 by Shripad Nadkarni and Shree Bharambe. They will now take up key roles at Curefoods, a company spokesperson said. “Shripad, who is one of the best brand experts in the country, will be instrumental in helping Curefoods sharpen brand narratives for multiple brands,” the person said.
“This game-changing merger comes at a time when the Indian cloud kitchen ecosystem is thriving and presents numerous opportunities for growth and scale,” Nadkarni said in a statement. “We believe that Curefoods’ digital brand creation expertise, tech prowess, and strong market penetration along with our supply chain expertise, efficient kitchen operations, and experience in creating top food brands make for the right synergy.”
Delivery-only businesses—technically brand names—have ballooned in the past 18-24 months as they’ve emerged as a cost-efficient way to maintain business continuity and expand customer reach in an industry that was decimated by Covid-19.
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