Indian Delivery Co Faasos Notches $16M In Fundraise Led By Sequoia

Indian on-demand food delivery startup Faasos has raised Rs 110.66 crore ($16 million) in a funding round led by Sequoia Capital and Lightbox Ventures, according to reports.

Sequoia invested through Sequoia Capital India Trust and SCI Investments VI fund, and Lightbox Ventures invested through Lightbox Ventures II and the Lightbox Expansion Fund. Evolvence, a private equity fund based in the UAE, also participated. Japan’s SoftBank and Singapore’s Temasek Holdings have also shown interest in the company.

Multiples Alternative Asset Management, Temasek, Goldman Sachs, Falcon Edge and Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board have all been in the conversation about potential investment in the company.

Faasos is owned by Rebel Foods, which issued 2,388 Series D1 compulsory convertible cumulative preference shares (CCCPS) as part of the funding round, each with a face value of Rs 1,000. Sequoia has subscribed to 1,514 CCCPS and Lightbox has 720.

Rebel Foods owns a few different brands, including pizza company Oven Story and biryani maker Behrouz.

Faasos has been busy with capital this year, as it also raised Rs 30 crore ($4.2 million) of debt funding from a venture debt company called Alteria Capital. This was raised through issuance of non-convertible debentures.

So far, Faasos has raised about $103.7 million through eight funding rounds.

The company wants to raise $150 million, and have a valuation of $350 million to $400 million to expand to other areas around the globe. In order to do so, the company hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch to help with advisement.

Sequoia Capital has invested in other delivery startups as well, and it was involved in a $535 million Series D funding round for DoorDash in March of last year. SoftBank Group led the round along with participation from GIC and Wellcome Trust. The deal also meant several representatives from the investors joined DoorDash’s board, such as Jeffrey Housenbold from SoftBank and Jeremy Kranz from GIC.