Rebel Foods plans public listing in 18-24 months

Rebel Foods, which operates a network of cloud kitchen brands such as Behrouz Biryani, Mandarin Oak, Ovenstory Pizza, and Faasos, is planning a public listing in the US in 18-24 months. The food company also plans to expand its geographical presence beyond India, UK, UAE, and Indonesia to markets such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Bahrain.

Founded by Jaydeep Barman and Kallol Banerjee, Rebel Foods started out as Faasos, a chain of quick-service restaurants (QSR) that sold kebab rolls, with an online ordering option. High rentals coupled with the realization that a majority of their orders were coming from the online channel forced a rethink of the business model. They shuttered outlets and pivoted to a cloud-kitchen only business in 2016, delivering a range of cuisines from kitchens operating in spaces that had lower rents.

It is now one of the largest internet restaurant companies with over a dozen brands that serve biryani to Chinese to pizza to wraps to desserts, through food delivery platforms such as Zomato and Swiggy, apart from its own apps. It counts Sequoia Capital India, Lightbox ventures, Coatue, Goldman Sachs, Gojek, and Uber founder Travis Kalanick as investors and was valued at over $800 million in its last round of funding in 2020.

Its next round of funding will catapult Rebel Foods into the unicorn club. "The last round was absolutely close so I would expect that we will be a unicorn. We are more focused on an IPO in 18 months. We will be raising a private round between now and then but nothing is finalized yet," Barman said.

"We are waiting for some clarifications on Government regulations on the direct overseas listing. If that comes through, we will list on NYSE or Nasdaq, otherwise, we will list in India."