Flipkart CEO Binny Bansal invests in QwikPik
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Flipkart Chief Executive Binny Bansal has led a $1million (about Rs 6.6 crore) seed funding round in Mumbai-based fast moving consumer goods startup QwikPik Technology, which owns and operates the YumLane brand of food products said a report in The Economic Times. Other investors that have also participated in the round, a first for YumLane, include People Group Founder Anupam Mittal, Sachin Bhatia, cofounder of Nasdaq-listed travel portal MakeMyTrip, and Darius Pandole, partner at private equity firm New Silk Route.
YumLane, which was founded in March this year by Hitesh Ahuja, who was also with New Silk Route, offers hot snacks and meals, such as momos and pizzas, across retail points in Mumbai. Both Bansal and Mittal had invested in Bengaluru-based on-demand mobile tutoring platform HashLearn in March. The Flipkart CEO has been an active angel investor, along with his co-founder Sachin Bansal, having previously invested in Bengaluru-based MadRat Games that makes offline educational board games. They have also made other startup bets like electric scooter maker Ather Energy, mobile gaming startup Mech Mocha, mobile news app Inshorts and broker networking platform.
YumLane, according to Ahuja, will use the proceeds primarily towards marketing and further brand building, as it looks to expand its presence in the city, before entering other markets across the country. "We are currently in 10 retail points, and expect to be in 50 by the end of August. The product pipeline will also go up, and we expect to finish our roll out in Mumbai over the next six to nine months," Ahuja told ET.
YumLane, which currently works with three vendors, has targeted multiple retail points, following which it will launch its consumer-facing app, allowing customers to order directly from the company. "We would like to make great food accessible to everyone, everywhere and leverage the deeply fragmented retail landscape our country offers," Ahuja said. The company also counts as cofounders Rueben Ghosh, formerly with Riyaz Amlaniled Impresario Entertainment and Hospitality chain of restaurants and bars, and former Morgan Stanley executive Rahul Kumar.
Like many large FMCG and F&B brands, such as Nestle, which have outsourced the manufacture of key products to private label vendors, YumLane does not manufacture the food, which is prepared by the vendors it works with, but handles quality control, supply chain, retail, marketing and distribution for the same, which is sold under its brand.
