QSR chain Wow! Momo Foods has raised over $15 million (Rs 125 crore) from OAKS Asset Management. The funding is part of a two-tranche raise, with the second one being planned with another VC fund.
The company will raise an additional Rs 100 crore in the second tranche of its Series D round.
Wow! Momo Foods operates three brands -- Wow! Momo, Wow! China and Wow! Chicken -- across 480 outlets in 21 cities.
CEO & Co-Founder, Sagar Daryani, said the fresh funds will enable the company develop strong back-end capabilities to enter Tier-1 and Tier-2 markets. It aims to expand the QSR business to over 100 cities and fortify its FMCG business growth.
“You only grow when the eco-system around you grows; even in such riotous times, good, profitable, sustainable and scalable business models will find the right backing, and that is the faith with which we started our first outlet in 2008. As I keep saying, we are a brand that is funded by consumers and guided by investors,” he added.
Launched in August 2008, the QSR chain has a monthly revenue run-rate of over Rs 40 crore. It aims to end the current financial year with a topline of over Rs 450 core, compared to Rs 220 crore recorded in the last fiscal year.
Daryani added that the company had planned addition of over 250 outlets this fiscal year, including 50 Wow! Chicken stores.
Vishal Ootam, Founder & CEO of OAKS Asset Management said, “With a track record of having partnered with some of the best entrepreneurs in the Indian F&B space, we are excited to see the execution by the Wow Momo team. We expect Wow! Momo to not only gain domestic market share in India, but also to be the first global-sized QSR company from India.”
Earlier this year, Wow! Momo launched its third QSR brand, Wow! Chicken and plans to take this brand across all the major metros and Tier-2 and Tier 3 cities over the next 24 months. It has also launched ready-to-eat momos, which will be available across all leading grocery chains and ecom platforms in the coming quarter.
Investec acted as the financial advisor to Wow! Momo in the transaction.