PE major and VC giant Tiger Global has marked its first investment in India’s burgeoning quick-service restaurant (QSR) space, after investing $23 million in Kolkata based Wow! Momo Foods. This is a series B round for the restaurant chain startup, which operates two QSR brands Wow! Momo and Wow! China.
Following the latest funding, Wow! Momo Foods is now valued at $120 million ( ₹860 crore), a quantum jump of almost 187% from humble valuation of ₹300 crore when it raised Series A funding from Fabindia’s MD William Bissell.
In a press release statement, Sagar Daryani, chief executive and co-founder of Wow! Momo Foods said,“This partnership is indeed a big step forward in our endeavor to become an Indian origin QSR chain with an aim to go global in times to come. We will smartly use the capital infused to further scale our operations backed with disruptive research and development to reach out to a larger consumer base within the country.”
Wow! Momo Foods and search engine giant Google have one thing in common: Both were started in non-descript garages. The former started its journey with miniscule investment of Rs 30,000 way back in 2008. Since then the company has flourished to become one of the poster boys of India’s organized Momos market.
Today the company operates nearly 282 outlets of Wow! Momo and 11 outlets of Wow! China across 15 cities.
Wow! Momo Foods claims it is currently scoring the monthly run rate of Rs 15 crore and aims to clock Rs 190 crore in revenue by FY20. The company claims that it has been Ebitda positive since its inception in 2008.
Momos is a type of dumpling that is immensely popular in India’s Northeast region as well as other South Asian countries like Nepal and Bhutan. Over the years, the popularity of dumpling has grown immensely among India’s youth and millennial population.