Marking its beginning 19 years ago with McDonald’s fast food chains, the Indian QSR (quick service restaurants) industry has witnessed a humongous growth over the years, luring not only national, but also various international players. But, considered as the host of countless international food delivery brands, does India lack a trusted brand of its own with a global presence and with fast food efficiencies? “Yes,” proclaims Raju Bhupati - an entrepreneur and the Co-Founder & CEO of Hello Curry, a pioneer and leader in the Indian QSR market. “In a hunt for an answer, we studied the conscience of 400 people in Hyderabad, about the restaurants they order from. Surprisingly, we heard the names of various foreign brands, while there were very few to point out Indian restaurants or fast-food chains,” added Raju.

However, stuck by this realization and united by a common vision, the magnificent souls behind Hello Curry - Raju and Sandeep Penmatsa (a food entrepreneur) joined hands and kick-started the venture, which has emerged into the world’s first Internet-first fast Indian food chain with asset light infrastructure.

Backed by a collaborative supply chain and a lean delivery model, the hybrid-designed stores are imbibed with environment and features equivalent to that of a foreign brand

The Transformation

From a lab assistant to global testing head, Raju has served many eminent organizations and helped their business to soar higher. He firmly believes that his past experience gives the strength to tread the road less travelled. Although the transition from a testing head to entrepreneur devoured a countless hours of time, he, with his undeterred focus towards orchestrating the industry and the support from his partner Sandeep and the investor Sashi Reddi, soon pushed the company to be a trusted home delivery brand in Hyderabad and one of the top five start-ups in India within six months of operations. What started as a small venture in a garage is now a pioneer in Indian QSR industry with two strategic acquisitions - Paratha Post and Fire 42, and an envious track record of delivering 1000 orders per day, which is growing at 25-30 percent month-on-month. Hello Curry in the path of progression also made very key alliances with PVR Cinemas to serve biryanis in the theaters and with IRCTC to offer meal to all the train-travelers.

Thanks to its standardized food items that mirror superior quality, taste and consistency across its 29 outlets in four cities. Besides its signature food Biriyani, the on-demand platform also hands out a variety of veg and non-veg Indian cuisines to choose from, while the ergonomically designed packaging that bagged the Best Packaging award from IIP) lets the customers to easily devour their favorite food anywhere, any time.

Backed by a collaborative supply chain and a lean delivery model, the hybrid-designed stores are imbibed with environment and features equivalent to that of a foreign brand. With a strong technical R&D team that focus on the latest breakthroughs, the company constantly hunts for innovation and is currently in the process of launching balanced-meal boxes at a friendly cost and the dynamic pricing system. In addition, the company is also rearing up to unveil its unique business model named KICK (Kitchen in Commercial Kitchen) which empowers its crew to setup in any kitchen in India as a partner.

Treading Towards Excellence

With 200+ best minds onboard, Hello Curry has institutionalized a culture that nurtures employees by giving a free hand in terms of ideating, designing or even selling. “It’s totally a free flowing organization where people are given opportunities to innovate and are appreciated for their entrepreneur abilities,” explains Raju. Driven by such attributes, the company, which took-off with a seed capital of Rs.9 crores from Sashi Reddi (Sri Capital), is eying to raise Rs.10 million in the coming days.