When Ankit Nagori launched Curefoods in 2020, the cloud kitchen market was on the verge of an inflection point. Even though Rebel Foods had been around for years before that, many expected a mini boom within this space to match the investments in food delivery by aggregators.

But no one perhaps expected Curefoods to outpace its closest rival Rebel Foods to the IPO post.

The company’s rise to prominence in this space has come in a flash, and its upcoming IPO will set the benchmark for the next generation of quick service restaurants and cloud kitchens.

The INR 800 Cr IPO is expected to put Curefoods’ expansion drive into top gear, and its acquisition-centric strategy for growth will be put to the test again.

Indeed, a significant portion of Curefoods’ potential IPO raise is expected to go towards adding 66 new cloud kitchens for existing acquired food brands with Olio’s Pizza & Krispy Kreme getting the most attention.

“Our model is very simple. We continuously identify potential gaps in the market and acquire brands that cater to specific customer needs.

Our business is about creating infrastructure that can serve different brands, and then we work on either creating or acquiring or taking franchising rights for brands in specific categories,” Nagori told Inc42, breaking down Curefoods’ current emphasis ahead of the public listing.

Over the years, Curefoods has created and acquired several brands that form its cloud kitchen empire.

The above big brands aside, Curefoods also acquired the franchise rights for international brands such as donut giant Krispy Kreme and pizza chain Sbarro in parts of the country.

The company also expanded internationally, launching its Indian cuisine brand Sharief Bhai in the United Arab Emirates in 2024. Plus, recently the company signed a pan-India franchise agreement with global ice cream brand Papacream.

As a result of this multi-brand push, Curefoods’ order volumes grew from 11.38 Mn in FY23 to 15.82 Mn in FY24, and further to 18.23 Mn in FY25.

But acquisitions are a tricky play, because profitability has still eluded Curefoods.

For context, Curefoods reported a net loss of INR 170 Cr in FY25 against a total revenue of INR 775.4 Cr. The company’s losses at INR 172.6 Cr remained steady compared to FY24 when it reported a total income of INR 635 Cr. So there’s some operating leverage at play here for the cloud kitchen giant.

However, questions could be asked about whether Curefoods’ acquisition and expansion-heavy strategy will hurt the bottom line in the future, especially if the IPO proceeds will go towards capex.

Nagori added, “The idea is to keep adding more menu items across segments and categories depending on the opportunity and category........

© Inc42