Prena Karla Founder of Food-tech Startup Daalchini Technologies Looking to Raise $8 Million

By: WE Staff | Monday, 7 June 2021

Daalchini Technologies, a food-tech startup, intends to raise up to USD 8 million (roughly Rs 58 crore) in growth capital over the next 2-3 years to support its expansion plans.

Daalchini is a physical marketplace for 'Traditional Indian Home-cooked Food,' provided by a network of home-based cooks/Tiffin Services via the Internet of Things.

Daalchini Technologies, a food-tech startup, intends to raise up to USD 8 million (roughly Rs 58 crore) in growth capital over the next 2-3 years to support its expansion plans. Daalchini Technologies, which provides home cooked food through IoT-enabled vending machines, anticipates an annual turnover rate of Rs 144 crore by the end of fiscal year 22.

“Daalchini plans to raise growth capital of up to USD 5-8 million in the next 2-3 years….As of now, we are planning to raise the growth capital and we are in early stage discussions with few prospective investors. As we adapt ourselves to the pandemic, we plan to raise fresh funds to expand our solution beyond 10 cities and the form-factor to more use-cases,” says, Prerna Kalra, Co-founder and CEO, Daalchini technologies.

Prerna Karla, graduate from Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad had previously worked as Product Manager at Fino Paytech Limited, Product Head at Paytm Wallet, and General Manager at Paytm Payments Bank. Later in 2017, she founded Daalchini Technologies.

“I am privileged to reach here & be able to startup Daalchini Technologies. But what drives me everyday to do more is create that privilege for 1000s of women in our country. Daalchini currently operates over 440 smart stores in ten cities, with over 1.4 lakh monthly active users. On its platform, the company sells over 190 franchises, 100 brands, and more than 34 cloud kitchens,” says Prerna.

In the midst of the pandemic, the company sees huge opportunity in installing its vending machines at hospitals. “Our contactless, smart vending machines are being deployed at the city’s key hospitals including Fortis, Max, Apollo, Dharamshila, Kailash, and Delhi Cancer Hospital. With this development, Daalchini will allow frontline workers, patients and visiting families access to healthy meals in a safe, contactless manner. Considering the current situation, and the dire need for maintaining social distancing, hospitals are increasingly turning to AI, robotics and other smart technologies within their premises,” Kalra said.

With over 43,000 private hospitals and 25,000 public hospitals in India, demand is already high and expected to rise further, especially in these difficult times, she added. Daalchini, according to Kalra, refills its machines three to four times a day across all of its hospitals.

Elaborating on the company’s growth journey, Kalra said: “We grew from 2 kiosks to 50 in FY19, and from 50 to 200 in FY20. In Q4 of FY21, we grew from 200 to 310 and now 440+ kiosks by expanding the scope of our solution… The pace at which we are growing, we should be able to achieve an annual turnover rate of Rs 144 crore by the end of FY22”. Daalchini has raised Rs 11 crore so far in the last two years through Artha Venture Fund and a few angel-investors.

Daalchini currently operates over 440 smart stores in ten cities, with over 1.4 lakh monthly active users. On its platform, the company sells over 190 franchises, 100 brands, and more than 34 cloud kitchens.