Yummy Bee, a health-focused Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) brand, has doubled its net revenue to ₹20-₹25 crore in FY26 from under ₹10 crore in FY25. Yummy Bee is backed by over ₹20 crore raised across early funding rounds from investors including the promoters of Continental Coffee and is planning a double-digit crore bridge round to expand from 19 to over 40 kitchens by March 2027, targeting a nine-figure ARR milestone.
An Interview with Sandeep Jangala, Founder and CEO, Yummy Bee
Are you seeking funding from VCs or Angel Investors? Moreover, do you think VCs are becoming hesitant about the sector, or is there a different market dynamic at play?
We are operating at a stage with a top-line of ₹35–40 crores. We have raised around ₹23 crores across 2 rounds. We are backed by the promoters of Continental Coffee, as investors, including their MD and CEO. We are raising a ₹30 crore round to fuel expansion. Following this, we plan to execute a subsequent growth round to scale our footprint and push the brand past the ₹100 crore revenue milestone. On bridge rounds, while institutional VCs heavily favor packaged FMCG goods over F&B services, forcing a structural funding gap, we avoid tech VCs entirely as they are in a different space and focus on sector-specific capital.
In the next year, how do you plan to use these funds?
We plan to expand from 19 to 42 kitchens in the next year. This includes adding five stores in Hyderabad and another four in Bangalore. At that point, we will launch our Series B round to fund expansion into Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, and Chennai, scaling the brand to a 250-crore mark over the next 3 years.
Given rising crop costs, how do you keep ‘clean’ menu affordable for the common person without compromising on ingredient quality?
We source whole grains from vendors and the Indian Institute of Millets Research. We don’t tie up with farmers directly due to the supply volumes we require. Ingredients carry a premium. Despite a massive cost premium on ingredients like Jowar and Stevia, we chose a 100 per cent pure-play model. We position ourselves in the ‘mass premium’ segment rather than a niche. Slightly above mass brands but below luxury niches to stay accessible.
Why is Yummy Bee betting heavily on premium brick-and-mortar locations over a cloud-kitchen-only model, and how does this physical footprint impact your digital sales and margins?
Pure cloud-kitchen models cap margins at 5 per cent due to high ad spend. Our premium brick-and-mortar locations act as permanent billboards that build immediate trust, accelerating online adoption and driving a 65 per cent repeat customer rate on Swiggy.
(The writer is an intern)