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| Zomoz team (left to right) — Akash Singh, Shouvik Dhar, Shreyas Darne |
The round is being led by global angel network Kyt Ventures, with the participation of prominent angel investors and family offices, including Rebel Foods, which previously participated in the mop-up.
Hyderabad-based Zomoz, which has been backed by foodtech unicorn Rebel Foods, plans to use the funds to increase production capacity, launch new brands, and expand its footprint.
The startup will use the capital to expand in existing cities and enter new Tier 2 and 3 cities, with an aim to run 90+ operational outlets across India in the next 8-12 months. It is also expanding internationally, starting with 13 outlets in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The launch of new brands is also in the pipeline.
Currently, the second-largest Indian momo brand has a presence in 68 locations via its 14 retail outlets and 54 cloud kitchens across seven cities Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mysuru, Pune, Mangalore, Chennai, and Mumbai.
Zomoz, based in Hyderabad, started operations in 2015 and remained bootstrapped for six years before Rebel Foods invested in the popular momos brand as a strategic investor in November 2021.
The company was founded by ISB alumnus Shouvik Dhar along with SP Jain Alumni Akash Singh and Shreyash Darne, with the aim of delivering momos and dumplings across India. It operates self-owned outlets across different formats such as mall kiosks, high streets and corporates. Over time, it has become the most scalable momo brand in India, relying on its centralized production, frozen model, and low-cost plug-and-play kiosks.
“The demand for authentic momos has been growing steadily over the past few years. As a brand that is solely focused on serving high-quality momos, we are uniquely positioned to capture a significant share of this market. We are aiming to clock Rs 3 crore in monthly sales by year end while achieving company-level EBITDA profitability by July 2023,” said Dhar.
Zomoz plans to raise $4-5 million in Series A in the third quarter of next year to fuel its ambitious aspirations of capturing a large share of the ever-growing momos market predicted to grow to $1.1 billion by 2026 from $400 million in 2022, growing at a CAGR of about 23%, as per industry reports.
Zomoz rivals include market leader Wow Momos as well as Momo Monk, Momo Zone, and Momo King. CEO Dhar, however, is confident of leaving a dent in the momos market.
“We are well-positioned to disrupt the market due to our centralized production, leading to consistent taste and quality reflected in its ratings; frozen model, ensuring zero wastage and no dependency on skilled staff at the outlet; and our capital efficiency in terms of returns generated against the CAPEX required per outlet. By combining operational and capital efficiency, we are confident that we can touch Rs 100 Cr ARR faster and with less investment than any of us before,” Dhar.
Kyt Ventures, Co-Founder, Dr. Anu Gupta said, “It’s been a pleasure investing in a fellow ISB alumnus’ venture, which is built on solid business fundamentals. Zomoz is at a sweet spot in its business and presents a promising opportunity for its investors. The company has seen significant growth in the past few years and is now closer to breaking even, which makes it a lucrative investment opportunity.”
Kyt Co-Founder Gagan Gupta said, “Zomoz has demonstrated exceptional growth and has become the fastest-growing momo brand in India. The team has built a scalable business model that has allowed them to expand rapidly across several cities, and now internationally. We believe in their vision and are confident in their ability to capture a significant share of the growing momo market. With our investment, we aim to support Zomoz's expansion plans and help them achieve their goal of becoming the leading momo brand in India and beyond."
About Zomoz
Zomoz, operated by Prabhati Foods Pvt Ltd, is India's fastest-growing QSR momo brand. The company is backed by Rebel Foods and Kyt Ventures. Currently, Zomoz has a presence in 68 locations across seven cities, making it the second-largest Indian momo brand in the country.About Kyt Ventures
Kyt Ventures is a unified funding, incubation & acceleration platform, backed by its global angel network having a reach of 2500+ angel investors and institutional investors. Kyt, India’s most investor friendly angel network, started with a mission to build an all-inclusive community of investors, entrepreneurs and ecosystem stake-holders.KV is sector agnostic and invests upto $1 Million in early-stage startups from pre-seed to pre-series A.
KV’s founders, Gagan Gupta & Dr Anu Gupta, are renowned angel investors, featured individually amongst India’s top angels. Having an experience with 100+ startup investments, the duo manages a portfolio of 15+ startup investments. Dr. Anu has been featured amongst 100 Women entrepreneurs shaping and building India (HT Mint 2022). Both the founders are alumni of prestigious global B-Schools (ISB, India & IE, Spain) having diverse corporate and entrepreneurial experience.
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