Wow! Momo Foods has raised $23 million from Tiger Global Management of the US in its Series B fund raising. This startup has 282 restaurants across the country under the Wow! Momo brand and 11 outlets under the Wow! China brand. With this fund infusion, the company’s valuation has jumped to $120 million. The startup last raised Rs 3 crore from William Bissel, MD, Fabindia last year. The existing investors are Indian Angel Network and Lighthouse Funds.
Wow! Momo was founded in Kolkata and has been opening 10 new restaurants each month. They are present in over 15 cities as quick service restaurants (QSR). They plan to take their model overseas as well in the coming years.
“From running a handful of kiosks in Kolkata to becoming a brand operating in over 15 cities, our ‘make-in-India’ journey has come a long way. We are super excited & thankful in welcoming Tiger Global aboard & looking forward to leverage upon their global connects, experience & knowhow. This partnership is indeed a big step forward in our endeavour to become an Indian origin QSR chain with an aim to go global in times to come. We will smartly use the capital infused to further scale our operations backed with disruptive research and development to reach out to a larger consumer base within the country. We are extremely grateful to Lighthouse Funds and IAN for backing us over the years & being super supportive to our vision,” Sagar Daryani, CEO & Co-founder of Wow! Momo, said.
Wow! Momo plans to go public with an IPO in the coming months/year and is also expected to unveil a range of packaged momos and momo sauce offerings. Wow! China is the latest brand launched in March 2019 and the management is confident it will add to the overall profitability of the venture.
Speaking of profitability, Wow! Momo Foods has been making profits right from inception and its CAGR has been 50%.
Wow! Momo Foods is projected to get to a topline of around Rs 190 crore for FY 19-20, currently clocking around Rs 15 crore each month. The founders talk of ‘Click & Mortar’ as their new mantra as they attempt to build a hybrid operating model of a mix of physical stores in prominent retail locations & that of cloud kitchens. The later will focus on the delivery model. The company has set some ambitious targets for future expansion which is to have 1,000 stores, doing an annualised turnover of over Rs 1,000 crore in the next 4 to 5 years.