Mumbai-based on-demand food delivery startup Box8 has today announced that it has raised around $1 million (approx ₹7 crore) in venture debt funding from Trifecta Capital. This new investment comes on the heels of the startup raising $7.5 million Series B funding from IIFL Seed Ventures Fund and Mayfield Ventures back in October 2016.
With this new infusion of capital, the startup now plans to venture into existing three markets and enhance customer experience. It also intends to expand to new geographies. As per the statement from the company, Delhi operations are slated to begin in the next few weeks, while Hyderabad and Chennai will follow later this year.
Commenting on the investment Rahul Khanna, co-founder, Trifecta Capital said,
We have been monitoring the online food delivery sector for almost two years. More than 150 startups were funded in this space and, as a venture debt provider, it was important for us to wait until some clarity emerged on the business models that would survive. BOX8 has demonstrated the ability to grow quickly with a focus on Indian food and has established a strong value proposition proven by high repeat customer behaviour.
Venture debt is emerging as a preferred form of fundraising. Box8 co-founder Amit Raj talked about the same saying,
Venture debt is an excellent proposition; since it provides access to debt where traditional bank lending doesn’t participate, and does that without diluting equity, unlike venture capital. This will help us maintain a balance in our financial structure & at the same time, keep growing at a rapid pace.
The company’s expansion plan will start from Gurugram and scale up operations to Delhi NCR in coming months. Mohit Surana, who established Bengaluru operations for Box8, has taken the charge to build the business in the Delhi NCR region as well
Box8 was founded in 2012 by two IIT graduates Amit Raj and Anshul Gupta. It is a full-stack online food delivery player that specializes in preparing and delivering Indian meals across Mumbai, Pune, and Bengaluru. The startup claims to have served around 14,000 meals every day through a network of 65 plus stores.
Trifecta Capital provides venture debt to new-age businesses across different stages of their development. It was founded by Rahul Khanna and Nilesh Kothari. In March 2017, Bengaluru-based BigBasket raised about $6.9 million in venture debt from Trifecta Capital. The fund has also supported 18 companies like PaperBoat, Rivigo, Nephroplus, Urban Ladder, Industrybuying, OneAssist, IdeaForge, etc.
