INDIA – Bundl Technologies, the parent company of online food ordering restaurant chain, Swiggy has invested US$4.37 million (Rs 31.2 crore) in a ready-to-cook food delivery startup, Fingerlix.
According to filings with the Registrar of Companies sourced from Paper.vc. as mentioned by ET Retail, Fingerlix is looking to raise up to US$8.83 million (Rs 63 crore) in a Series-C round.
Founded in 2016 by Shree Bharambe and Shripad Nadkarni, the startup has raised more than US$18.94 million (Rs 135 crore) from existing and other investors, including Accel Partners and Zephyr Peacock.
“Fingerlix, under the able leadership of Shripad & Shree, has built a much-loved brand with a unique model of creating products which we believe will unlock a new category of convenience for customers,” said Vivek Sunder, the chief operating officer of Swiggy.com.
ET Retail had reported that Fingerlix was looking at expanding and had clocked sales of about 6,000 units per day, touching over US$1.68 million (Rs 12 crore) in annual revenue.
In 2017, the company raised Rs 45 crore (US$6.9 million) in its third institutional round of funding from Accel Partners.
The round received backing from existing investor Zephyr Peacock, enabling Fingerlix expand into Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai and increase presence in the NCR market.
The company utilizes artificial intelligence-based solutions to streamline its supply chain and improve its demand forecast to help meet demand of fresh products regularly while cutting down on wastage.
It is also investing in newer products including recipe-based offerings in several centre-of-plate categories such as snacking.
Swiggy, which has been expanding its delivery footprint in a race against Zomato, is reported to be in talks to buy UberEats Indian business.
It is said to be giving out discounts and incentives to the tune of US$16 million per month to woo customers.
It also acquihired artificial intelligence (AI) start-up, Kint.io to boost its computer vision technology and consumer experience.
