Rebel Foods, an India-based virtual kitchen operator backed by corporates Gojek, Sistema and Northwest Industrial Logistics, has secured $175m in series F funding, reaching a valuation of $1.4bn.
The round was led by Qatar Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar, and backed by Coatue Management and Evolvence India.
Founded in 2011, Rebel runs a network of more than 450 cloud kitchens that cook meals for delivery only, in 60 cities across 10 countries including India, the United Arab Emirates, the UK, Singapore and Thailand. It had previously collected $50m in funding from Coatue in April 2020.
The company raised $125m in August 2019 in the first close of a series D round, with the cash coming from ride hailing service Gojek, investment bank Goldman Sachs, Coatue Management, Sequoia Capital India, Lightbox Ventures and Evolvence India Fund.
The round was subsequently expanded to $153m a month later, through a $28m extension led by Goldman Sachs and backed by logistics service provider Northwest Industrial, diversified conglomerate Sistema’s Asia Fund and Irving Investors.
Sistema Asia Fund had already invested in Rebel through a $30m series C round in 2018 that also featured Evolvence India, Lightbox Ventures, Sequoia Indian and Ru-Net. Its early backers include RB Investments.
Piyush Kakkad, chief financial officer of Rebel, said: “This round of funding will be reinvested in building our technology, increasing our global presence and also acquiring new brands. Rebel Foods is working towards an [initial public offering] in the next 18-24 months.”