Gurgaon-based Burger Singh grabs a bite, raises $1million funding

Gurgaon-based burger chain Burger Singh owned by Tipping Mr Pink Pvt Ltd has raised an additional fund taking the total amount to $1 million in FY 2016. The money will be utilised to expand geographically beyond Gurgaon.

The round of funding that was closed in August saw the participation of exiting investors Ashvin Chadda, Rahul Singh (Beer café), Dheeraj Jain (Redcliffe Capital), Rannvijay Singh (MTV Roadies), Capt. Salim Sheikh (ex -Sayaji Hotels Ltd) and Avtar Monga (COO of IDFC Bank).

Last year in October, Burger Singh raised an angel round of Rs 2.2 crore from investors including Ashvin, Dheeraj, Udan Angel Partners and Avtar.

Kabir Jeet Singh, CEO of Burger Singh, said,

Our vision, enthusiasm and prospects have been highly recognised by our investors who have backed us repeatedly both financially and strategically. Now that we have carefully and deliberately built a robust foundation of systems and processes, the aim would be to reach a wider audience geographically.”

A flashback

Burger Singh was founded in November 2014 by Kabir and his childhood friend Nitin Rana. Homegrown burger chain is looking to make its mark in the fast-growing burger market, which is currently dominated by biggies like McDonald's and Burger King.

 Unlike its rivals, Burger Singh is looking to open smaller outlets with multiple locations, predominantly focussed on delivery and takeaway customers. This makes the model capex light with conservative rentals and very lean operations. Thus, reducing the risk per location,” the firm said in a statement.

Burger Singh currently has eight outlets in the city and is planning to scale up the number of outlets to 26 by the end of 2016 through franchise model. Burger Singh launched its first outlet on Golf Course Road, Gurgaon.

Kabir in an earlier interaction said that while he was pursuing his MBA in London, he used to work at a burger joint. Though he had access to the kitchen, he experimented with various Indian spices and in no time the ‘Indianised’ burgers had become popular with Indian students around the neighbourhood.

He returned to India in 2011 and worked at a Beer Café. Looking at the trends and patterns in the orders, Kabir knew that burgers were a favourite among youth. He decided to reinvent the classic burger and give it a desi twist.

"We are very impressed by the vision of Kabir and the quality of the management and operations team. We see strong potential in the company and are looking forward to working closely with the team to help ensure the continued success of Burger Singh," said Dheeraj of Redcliffe Capital.

Burger Singh is also eyeing to raise $5 million in Series A round at a later stage.

Market overview

According to a report by Assocham, India's quick service restaurants (QSR) market is expected to touch Rs 25,000 crore by 2020. Currently estimated at Rs 8,500 crore, the country's QSR market is growing at a CAGR of 25 percent.

The QSR space has witnessed the entry of various national and international players owing to urbanisation, youth spending, nuclear families and better logistics. Known as a late entrant (November 2014) to India’s fast-food market, Burger King in April announced to open 35-40 outlets this year across the country.

Burger King currently has 48 stores in India and last year it has entered into 13 cities including Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Punjab and Pune. McDonald’s India last year in September announced that it will invest Rs 750 crore to open 250 stores in the next five years.

Website: Burger Singh