QSR chain Wow! Momo raises $23 mn in Series B funding led by Tiger Global

Wow! Momo Foods, which owns and operates two quick-service restaurant brands Wow! Momo and Wow! China, has raised $23 million in Series B funding led by Tiger Global, it said in a statement.

Interestingly, this is one of the first b2c investments by Tiger this year, which has backed a clutch of b2b start-ups after Lee Fixel quit the firm earlier this year.

The restaurant chain is now valued at a massive $120 million (Rs 860 crore), 1.8X more than Rs 300 crore valuation it had achieved when FabIndia MD William Bissel had invested Rs 3 crore in 2018.

“We are excited to partner with Wow! Momo. We believe the Company has a strong leadership team focused on creating value through innovation and creativity. We expect Wow! Momo to continue gaining market share of Indian QSR.” said Scott Shleifer, Partner, Tiger Global.

Large part of the funding in the current round by Tiger Global is primary capital into the business with a $3 million partial secondary exit to the Indian Angel Network with approximately 7x return in 4 years and an estimated IRR of over 70 per cent.

Sagar Daryani, CEO & Co-founder of Wow! China/Wow! Momo, said, “From running a handful of kiosks in Kolkata to becoming a brand operating in over 15 cities, our ‘make-in-India’ journey has come a long way. We are super excited & thankful in welcoming Tiger Global aboard & looking forward to leverage upon their global connects, experience & knowhow. This partnership is indeed a big step forward in our endeavour to become an Indian origin QSR chain with an aim to go global in times to come.”

Incepted in a garage by two students of St Xavier’s College with an initial investment of only Rs 30,000, the Kolkata-based start-up has been dishing out momos and more, for over a decade now. With 282 outlets of Wow! Momo & 11 outlets of its newest brand Wow! China spread across 15 cities combined, the company is now gearing to notch further milestones in its growth trajectory. The start-up had launched its sister brand Wow! China in March 2019. Moving ahead, the company aims to be a platform for QSR play in India and also plans to unveil a range of packaged momo & momo sauce offerings, and will ultimately be working towards an IPO.

Wow! Momo Foods Pvt. Ltd is projected to get to a topline of around Rs 190 crore for FY 2019-20. The company claims a monthly run rate of over Rs 15 crore and opening over 10 new stores every month.