Cloud kitchen startup Curefoods to soon hit Dalal Street; gets SEBI approval for Rs 800 crore IPO: Report

Cloud kitchen major Curefoods, which operates brands such as EatFit, CakeZone and Krispy Kreme, has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for its Rs 800 crore initial public offering (IPO), according to media reports.

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The issue will include both a fresh issue and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of up to 4.85 crore shares, giving early investors the chance to partially or fully exit. Founder and CEO Ankit Nagori will retain his entire holding and is not participating in the OFS.

Among those reducing stakes are Iron Pillar, Crimson Winter, Accel, Chiratae Ventures, and Curefit Healthcare, which was co-founded by Mukesh Bansal and Nagori. Iron Pillar is set to be the largest seller, divesting 1.91 crore shares, followed by Crimson Winter (97.6 lakh shares), Accel (45.7 lakh), Chiratae (36.6 lakh), and Curefit (12.8 lakh).

Iron Pillar’s exit value is estimated to be 2.6 times higher than that of Accel and Chiratae, based on their weighted average acquisition prices.

Of the Rs 800 crore raised through the fresh issue, Curefoods plans to allocate Rs 152.5 crore to expand its cloud kitchen network and infrastructure, Rs 126.9 crore to repay borrowings, and Rs 92 crore to its subsidiary Fan Hospitality, which manages kitchen operations. The company has also earmarked Rs 40 crore for lease deposits and Rs 14 crore for marketing and brand-building. It may raise Rs 160 crore through a pre-IPO placement, potentially reducing the fresh issue size.

The Bengaluru-based startup nearly doubled its revenue in two years, from Rs 382 crore in FY23 to Rs 746 crore in FY25, but continues to post losses. Net loss stood at Rs 170 crore in FY25, broadly unchanged year-on-year, while EBITDA losses narrowed sharply from Rs 276 crore to Rs 58 crore over the same period.

Despite improving margins, Curefoods continues to burn cash, spending Rs 1.27 to earn every Rs 1 in revenue. Employee churn also remains high, with attrition at 111.7% in FY25, following two years above 120%.

The company remains heavily dependent on food aggregators such as Swiggy and Zomato, which contributed over 82% of its FY25 revenue. It cautioned that any change in aggregator commission structures—currently about 18–22%—could materially impact profitability.

In September, 3State Ventures, founded by Flipkart cofounder Binny Bansal, invested Rs 160 crore in a pre-IPO round. Curefoods joins a growing list of Indian startups preparing to go public, including Shadowfax, Wakefit, Capillary Technologies, and Lenskart.