Curefoods' IPO, valuation, and a sense behind numbers

In FY25, Curefoods did revenues of ₹746 Cr at a loss of ₹170 Cr. And now the company is looking at an IPO.

Curefoods has an interesting story. When Cultfit began, it had an Eatfit vertical which operated cloud kitchens. But then the pandemic hit and it came to the question of shutting down the food unit altogether. Mr. Ankit Nagori (the co-founder of Cultfit along with Mr. Mukesh Bansal) didn't want that, and so Eatfit was spun off as an independent company with Mr. Nagori leading the charge.

Initially, Curefoods was into the healthy food business, but as that seemed to be a tricky play, the company evolved into a full-on "house of brands". Like Mensa, but for Food Delivery. A close comparable is Rebel Foods (also looking at going public sometime soon).

As soon as that "Mensa for Food" pivot happened, Curefoods began an extraordinary spree of fundraising. The company had raised $20 Million by August 2021, but then managed to fetch $62 Million in January 2022, followed by another round of $46 Million in June 2022, and then another of $36.5 Million in April 2023.

That's over $164 Million raised in less than two years.

A lot of this was perhaps achieved with the blessings of Mr. Binny Bansal (Mr. Nagori's senior at Flipkart), who proceeded to invest another $25 Million in March 2024, and then $10 Million more in September 2024 (the last one being debt). A true good smaritan for Curefoods, Mr. Bansal is now the largest institutional shareholder at the company.

Now after having raised about $200 Million, Curefoods is looking at going public. But at what valuation?

Its Series D round was done at a valuation of $375 Million (~₹3,200 Cr), and Traxcn has quoted their pre-IPO valuation as ~$445 Million (~₹3,820 Cr). While I don't get the math of either, but if the latter is an anchor, that's huge!

Let's say Curefoods aims a $500 Million (~₹4200 Cr) valuation. That'll mean a revenue multiple of 5.6x.

Well, Jubilant Foodworks has that revenue multiple. And it did a revenue of ₹8,141.7 Cr (roughly 11x Curefoods) at net profit after tax of ₹230 Crores. And that's without counting an exceptional income item of ₹170 Cr. Also, Jubilant grew 44% YoY, while Curefoods grew by 28%.

Following are Curefoods' revenue/loss figures by year (in ₹ Crores).

FY25: ₹746/₹170

FY24: ₹585/173

FY23: ₹382/342

FY22: ₹89/₹71

Overall the company has made cumulative losses of about ₹756 Cr, and is now growing while keeping its losses in control, but still a bit far from turning the corner at a net level.

So... What would Curefoods valuation be? That's hard to say. But what's clear is that with about ₹80 Cr left in Cash and bank balances, and investors looking to offload 4.85 Crore shares to the public, the company and its investors seem to really need the money. Quick.

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