Innerchef acquires EatOnGo and Flavour Labs

InnerChef Pvt Ltd, the ready-to-cook meals delivery startup floated by GSF Accelerator's Rajesh Sawhney, has acquired Bangalore-based EatOnGo and Gurgaon-based Flavour Labs.

EatOnGo Food Services Pvt Ltd is an on-demand meal service, similar to InnerChef. Flavour Labs, run by ANRV Flavour Food and Experience Labs LLP, is a food truck company.

"We are building a network of kitchens in each city. Mobile kitchens help us to be closer to our customers and create an intimate food experience," said Bal Di Ghent, co-founder, InnerChef, in a statement.

"These acquisitions will help InnerChef deepen its offerings to the two of the fastest growing markets in India: NCR and Bangalore. We are also acquiring awesome talent who share our passion for food and technology," added Sawhney.

Gurgaon-based InnerChef has adopted US-based Blue Apron's business model. It delivers pre-cooked, sliced food to customers with all necessary ingredients as well as the recipe packed in a kit.

The company was launched by Sawhney, Bal DiGhent, Heena Karia Thakkar, Uday Bansal and Rahul Samat. However, Thakkar (a professional chef), Bansal (founder of fantasy stock trading platform Skybulls) and Samat (ex-employee of Barclays in New York) quit a few months ago as part of what the company called a 'restructuring exercise'.

In November last year, Anand Chandrasekaran, Snapdeal's chief product officer, had made an undisclosed angel investment in InnerChef. Prior to that, the company raised Rs 11 crore ($1.6 million) in pre-Series A funding from Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Redbus co-founder Phanindra Sama, Shaadi.com's Anupam Mittal and other tech investors.

The food tech industry in India has been witnessing consolidation in the last two years. Rocket Internet-backed Foodpanda, for instance, acquired rival Just Eat India in 2015. In October, hyper-local grocery and fresh food delivery platform Grofers acqui-hired financially struggling food delivery app SpoonJoy.