Food delivery disruptor Kbox Global closes £12M to fuel continued expansion

Kbox Global has announced it has raised £12m led by Balderton to continue its mission to revolutionise the food delivery market through its unique host kitchen technology.

Kbox uses existing spare commercial kitchen capacity, in restaurants, hotels, pubs, casinos, gyms, to prepare multiple delivery brands from the same venue.Through the Kbox model, kitchen owners can turbo-charge their revenue, without upfront costs, additional spend on real estate, menu or customer research, or staff upskilling.The model is underpinned by a technology offering rich customer insight and up to the minute data to make the kitchen hyper-responsive to local demand. Its unique black box solution entirely automates this process, allowing owners to benefit not just from their own kitchen, but through the powerful network effect of hundreds of host kitchens all sharing relevant brand performance data.The food delivery market shows no sign of slowing down in the wake of the pandemic. Existing delivery users have been ordering more than ever before, with delivery visits growing by over 40% in the past 5 years in the UK alone. The global online food delivery market is predicted to be worth USD 1 trillion by 2035.

The global online food delivery market is predicted to be worth USD 1 trillion by 2035.

Salima Vellani, Kbox founder and serial restaurateur, armed with a track record of expanding concepts across international markets and having foreseen the rise of the delivery-first era, is now seizing on it for the benefit of the whole hospitality ecosystem.

“These are challenging times for anyone working in hospitality and income diversification is a powerful tool to boost revenues. I’m thrilled that venues from pubs, restaurants and hotels to casinos and supermarkets are embracing the delivery first era, by firing up their kitchens with Kbox.”

Salima Vellani, Kbox founder and CEO

Salima Vellani

The company has seen exponential growth in the last quarter. With kitchens in London, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Brighton, Kbox is on course for 2000 operational kitchens in the UK before the end of 2021.

Balderton’s backing means we can respond to the global demand for a shakeup of the old economics, for the benefit of food providers, commercial kitchen owners and consumers.

Salima Vellani, Kbox founder and CEO

An international rollout of the model is also underway with franchise agreements in Australia and India already signed and launching this month with a further 8 countries to be launched next year.The new funding will be used to accelerate Kbox’s UK growth plans as well as support planned international expansion and the establishment of a US base early next year. 

Salima and the team have joined the dots between rapidly increasing consumer demand for delivery meals, ever-changing food preferences and under-utilised kitchen assets in a challenged hospitality sector. They have melded software and data science into a next-generation franchising model that can be deployed quickly to thousands of kitchens around the world. We are delighted to be joining them on this journey.

Daniel Waterhouse, Partner at Balderton

Read Daniel’s Medium post – Reinventing food franchising: why we invested in Kbox Global

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