Box8, an Indian cloud kitchen startup, has raised $15 million in a funding round led by Alibaba Group backed Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) Ecosystem Fund.

Existing investors Mayfield and IIFL Seed Ventures fund also took part in this round, with the proceeds to help in expanding Box8’s operations across India.

The Indian cloud kitchen startup was founded by IIT graduates Amit Raj and Anshul Gupta. The company is said to be technology first, full-stack cloud kitchen firm known for its All-in-1 meals, Desi boxes, and more.

The complete value chain from procurement of high-quality ingredients to food preparation to the last mile delivery is owned by Box8 thus ensuring superior customer experience every time.

Box8 claims to deliver more than a million meals every month from the company-owned 110 plus cloud kitchens in four cities of Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, and Delhi NCR. The company’s network of cloud kitchens is said to nullify the high rental and operations cost incurred by normal restaurants while having better workflows suited for delivery.

Poncho Hospitality, the parent company of Box8, also owns and operates a pizza delivery brand called MOJO Pizza with a delivery chain delivering more than three lakh pizzas a month by using existing delivery fleet, technology platform, and the same network of cloud kitchens.

Amit Raj – co-founder of Box8 said: “We are solving the biggest unsolved problem in food delivery, which is the preparation of food itself. Traditional restaurants simply have a different DNA: their food is all about experience and is meant to be eaten immediately.

“We are a delivery first company, designing our food keeping in mind that it will be in transit for another 10-15 minutes. Our in-house fleet delivers 100% of our orders, this gives us even greater control over the food quality.”

With the new funding, Box8 is planning to expand its cloud kitchen business to five more Indian cities with a target of 100 more kitchens in the next 12 months. Besides, the cloud kitchen start-up is also planning to acquire talent and invest further in technology.

Anshul Gupta – co-founder of Box8 said: “Restaurants are still lagging in technology adoption. Even the biggest brands run on archaic systems with human dependent inventions. We have built our proprietary technology platform grounds up, which forms the backbone of our seamless operations.

“After all, we are solving two big problems: on-demand preparation of high-quality food and delivering it piping hot within 25 mins. To keep doing this at scale, we would double down on tech.”

  Alibaba Group, Amit Raj, Anshul Gupta, BOX8, eWTP Ecosystem Fund, India, Karnataka, Poncho Hospitality