MAM
F&B start-up Cross Border Kitchens raises angel round
Cross Border Kitchens (CBK) – a multi-brand, multi-kitchen, multi-format internet-driven F&B company has raised an angel round led by Shreedhar Gupta. Shreedhar has invested in CBK in his personal capacity and also joins in as a board member.
Shreedhar Gupta has been involved in the Indian automotive sector for over two decades, running & successfully scaling up businesses in the Tier 1 industry manufacturing components for leading OEM's including Maruti, Volkswagen, Honda, Tata, etc. In the recent past Shreedhar has further diversified into freight forwarding, logistics & end-of-life vehicle recycling and has additionally been involved with various start-ups in a personal capacity. His recent initial stage investments include Burger Singh, BluSmart cabs and most recently CBK amongst others. His expertise lies in scaling up of businesses, process identification and improvements while mentoring the management team.
Launched in early 2019, CBK is committed to providing consistent high-quality food across multiple cuisine types, at every possible price point, and via every possible format. The team is guided by achieving excellence in all large and small processes that go into achieving the core objective. Operational excellence, marketing expertise, and technology backbone support each of these key processes helping the company bring to market 7 operational brands (with an additional 4 launching in the next 30 days) in 4 different cuisine type at a wide range of price points.
Currently, CBK service in anywhere between 10-12 thousand orders every month and is on the path to register INR 4 crore in revenue by end of the financial year with 3 live kitchens operational in Delhi NCR.
On the fundraise Ishita Yashvi, Mayank Singh, Ahsan Qureshi and Mohit Mehta, Co-founders, Cross Border Kitchens said, “We are an Inventive Culinary Community that utilizes technology, culinary art, marketing, and operational excellence to deliver a memorable gourmet experience. Shreedhar comes with a string of successful investments in start-ups. His business acumen will help us scale at an accelerated rate and in achieving our mission to deliver a wholesome food experience at every doorstep at the click of a button.”
On investing in the company Shreedhar Gupta said, “I am very excited to be part of a team with such energy, excitement and integrity. I play very safe with my investments and I’m confident that investing in CBK is one of the safe yet best investments I’ve made so far. Not only am I positive of multi fold returns but also grateful that this investment in CBK will help me get involved with good food, something I’m very passionate about.”
In the next 18 months, CBK plans to have a multi-city presence. They project to be present in 7 major cities in India with different formats. They expect to have 570 live PoS and plan to deploy CAPEX of INR 18 crore. The company hopes to create 2000 to 2500 employment opportunities.
Brands
UpGrad to acquire Unacademy in share-swap deal, founders confirm
Proposed share-swap could unite two edtech rivals as sector eyes consolidation
MUMBAI: The Indian edtech sector may be inching toward another wave of consolidation, with online learning platform upGrad signing a term sheet to acquire rival Unacademy in an all stock transaction.
If completed, the deal would bring together two of the country’s most prominent education technology companies at a time when the sector is adjusting to slower demand and a sharper focus on profitability after the pandemic driven boom.
UpGrad founder and chairperson Ronnie Screwvala confirmed the development in a post on X, stating that Unacademy co-founder and chief executive Gaurav Munjal would continue to lead the company following the acquisition.
“We at upGrad have signed a term sheet to acquire Unacademy in an all stock deal, with founder and ceo Gaurav Munjal staying on to build Unacademy and focus on what it does best, creating online education products that learners love,” Screwvala wrote.
He added that the agreement includes a break fee provision if the transaction fails to close. Screwvala also said the combined entity could strengthen upGrad’s integrated learning model spanning K12 education, professional training and lifelong learning.
Unacademy confirmed that the proposed transaction will be executed through a 100 per cent share swap, with the valuation to be disclosed only after the deal closes and regulatory filings are completed.
Announcing the development on X, Munjal described the agreement as the beginning of a new chapter for both companies and the wider edtech ecosystem.
He noted that Unacademy had spent the past year reshaping its operations to focus more sharply on online education products. Among the steps taken were consolidating company operated offline centres with franchise partners and launching a Rs 50 crore employee stock ownership plan buyback, in which around 40 per cent of former employees have already participated.
Munjal also highlighted the traction gained by Airlearn, the company’s language learning product, which he said is expanding in markets including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada.
“Our cash reserves as of today are more than $100 million,” he said.
The proposed deal also marks a turnaround from earlier talks between the two companies that had stalled over disagreements on valuation and structure. Previous discussions had placed Unacademy’s valuation in the range of $300 million to $400 million, according to media reports.
If the transaction goes through, Munjal will continue as co-founder and chief executive of Unacademy, focusing on building online learning products for students in India and global markets.
For upGrad, the acquisition would broaden its footprint across the education spectrum, from school level learning to professional upskilling and lifelong education.
The move comes as India’s edtech sector enters a more sober phase after years of rapid expansion. Companies across the industry have been trimming costs, restructuring operations and seeking scale to build more sustainable businesses.
Against that backdrop, the potential combination of upGrad and Unacademy could signal that the next phase of edtech growth may be driven less by blitzscaling and more by strategic partnerships and consolidation.
