FoodAbhi raises seed round funding; plans pan-India expansion

Mumbai-based FoodAbhi, an online tiffin marketplace catering to daily and on demand meals has raised a seed round of funding from investors based in US, UK, Holland and India. The tiffin start-up currently caters to Mumbaikars who can order a meal at Rs. 70 from a variety of cuisines. FoodAbhi is planning to use the newly-acquired funds for technology expansion such as apps that will help customers track deliveries and also enable the start-up to track vendor activities.

FoodAbhi was founded by husband-wife Amit Dube and Shraddha who were looking for a solution to find economic and hygienic meals that could be delivered as single meals via a tiffin service without taking a month-long subscription. This was the reason behind FoodAbhi’s name. Today, it delivers tiffin service for lunch, dinner and even last-moment orders.

After its launch in 2013 on a start-up capital of Rs.10 lakhs, it has served more than 15,000 tiffins in Mumbai.
“We offer freshly prepared home-like daily meals for lunch and dinner through various food vendors. Meals are delivered in hygienic packaging,” Dube said.

Dube further adds that logistics can become a nightmare for food delivery services no matter how good the food is. Hence, the company has its own team since April 2014.

With the seed round of funding, the company hopes to extend its reach. Until now, it has serviced Mumbai from the South Mumbai region to Parel. It plans to cover entire Mumbai soon and in the next two months, expand its reach to Pune and Bangalore and later Delhi.

“The company has a good catchment area from South Mumbai to Parel for its tiffin services as the area comprises of business districts with a large number of office goers,” said Nitin Khandkar, buy-side analyst with focus on FMCG sector. “Food services businesses must satisfy consumers with consistency in quality, taste and delivery. Price points, choice of menu and logistics are equally important. Customer retention remains a challenge, as existing customers form a large chunk of the clientele.”