Cloud kitchen brand Rebel Foods which operates Faasos, Behrouz Biryani and Oven Story Pizza has sacked close to 2% of its workforce, two people aware of the development told VCCircle.
"Any news heard is on account of annual performance evaluation and realigning the organisation to our priorities for future goals. The impacted number is less than 2% of our organisational strength," said a Rebel Foods' spokesperson.
As per the company’s LinkedIn page, currently it has over 2,500 employees.
A former Rebel Foods staff took to LinkedIn on Monday and posted, “the layoffs came as a shock as everything was going well till yesterday. Even after performing well, I was laid off due to some organizational restructuring process.”
Rebel Foods Pvt. Ltd widened its net loss by 55% in the last financial year as a sharp increase in costs outweighed a more than doubling of revenue.
The company posted a loss of Rs 565 crore in the year ended March, compared to Rs 364 crore in the previous year. Revenue climbed to Rs 858.6 in FY22 from Rs 406.1 crore in the previous fiscal, as per the company’s latest filing with the Registrar of Companies. Rebel Foods earns from the sale of cooked food items, delivery services, and commissions.
Founded in 2011, Rebel Foods operates over 45 internet kitchen brands through a mix of owned and partner brands in 70 cities in 10 countries. It claims to be operating over 450 kitchen locations and over 4,000 internet restaurants. Its in-house brands are Faasos, Behrouz Biryani and Oven Story Pizza.
Rebel Foods is backed by marquee investors including Goldman Sachs, Sequoia Capital India and Qatar Investment Authority (QIA). In October 2021, the company raised $175 million in its Series F round led by QIA, with participation from existing investors Coatue Management and Evolvence.
Last fiscal, the company had bought stakes in several brands. For instance, it took a majority stake in luxury chocolate brand Smoor, a minority stake in Biryani Blues and Hyderabad-based momo-brand Zomoz.
