Japanese cuisine QSR chain Harajuku Tokyo Cafe raises $2 million in seed funding – The Economic Times

The funding will pave the best way for the chain’s growth throughout India, executives mentioned, and comes amid rising investor curiosity within the shopper area.

Gaurav Kanwar, founder and chief government officer of Harajuku Tokyo Cafe, mentioned the funding and growth would assist unfold Japanese cuisine throughout India. “What started as a challenge to make Japanese meals accessible has developed right into a scalable enterprise mannequin,” he mentioned.

The funding spherical was co-led by IAN traders Hari Balasubramanian, Uday Chatterjee, Pradeep Jai Singh and Sri Prakash.

The corporate mentioned Harajuku, which was arrange in 2021 by Kanwar, has an annual recurring income of Rs 30 crore. It added that from seven shops at the moment throughout Delhi NCR and Mumbai, the chain plans to arrange 90 shops throughout 20 cities by 2027.

India’s food-service industry, valued at near $51 billion and anticipated to greater than double to $123 billion by 2033, is being pushed by informal eating and QSR, inside which Japanese delicacies is among the fastest-growing worldwide segments, the corporate mentioned.

Like different meals service chains, Harajuku, too, is increasing to the packaged meals section. The corporate’s D2C vertical KoiKoi Necessities will promote ramen kits, sauces and frozen meals.

The corporate mentioned additionally it is in discussions for franchise partnerships within the UAE and different worldwide markets the place Indian diaspora communities might drive demand.

There was an uptick in offers within the shopper area in latest months after 5 quarters of subdued exercise. Whereas ChrysCapital purchased an 85% stake in pan-India bakery chain Theobroma Foods for about Rs 2,410 crore, Devyani International acquired a controlling stake in Sky Gate Hospitality, which owns home chain Biryani By Kilo.

Wow! Momo raised Rs 150 crore from Haldiram’s promoter Kamal Agrawal and Malaysia’s wealth fund Khazanah Nasional, whereas cafe chain e in a funding spherical led by enterprise capital agency Prath Ventures.