Restaurant reservation site GourmetItUp raises under $300K in angel funding

Mumbai-based Tastebox Hospitality Pvt Ltd, the startup behindGourmetItUp, an online platform for gourmet cuisine, has secured Rs 1.81 crore (under $300,000) in funding from a group of investors, including Karan Bhagat, MD of IIFL Private Wealth Management; Prabhat Awasthi, managing director of Nomura Holdings; and Atul Kumar of Genome Capital.

GourmetItUp plans to use the funds to expand its operations in India and globally. A part of the capital will go into deeper technology integration with its restaurant partners, besides ramping up its customer acquisition activities.

The startup was founded in 2012 by the husband-wife duo of Kunal and Deepa Jain. Kunal is a serial entrepreneur with expertise in building and marketing consumer websites. He had also earlier co-founded Indianhanger.com, an e-commerce platform selling designer apparel and accessories.

Deepa is founder of RecipeMobile, a food brand that supplied gourmet food items to restaurants and directly to customers.

GourmetItUp partners with top fine-dining restaurants in India to create exclusive dining experiences like set meals, wine tastings and bespoke menus. These experiences are available on the site as well as through concierge services, credit cards, banks and corporates. The firm has partnered with 75 restaurants in Mumbai alone that include Hakkasan, Yauatcha, Le Pain Quotidien and The Tasting Room.

The services are also available in Pune and Delhi, besides Mumbai.

How it works?

A user needs to create an account and become a member to make a reservation on the website. The user doesn't need to print out vouchers, but to mention his/her name when he/she reaches the restaurant. A table will be waiting for him/her with GourmetItUp special menus. The customer can pay the restaurant directly after the experience and get Gourmet Points that can be exchanged for gourmet rewards.

Recently, Mumbai-based Instant Hotels Around You Pvt Ltd, the company behind HotelsAroundYou, an online platform to book hotels at the last minute at discounted prices, raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from VentureNursery, an angel-backed startup accelerator.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)