Chef Sanjeev Kapoor’s Tinychef Acquires Indian Food-Tech Startup Zelish

• ByStartupStory     |    July 20, 2021

Tinychef, which counts celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor among its co-founders, on Tuesday said it has acquired Indian food-tech startup Zelish for an undisclosed amount. Founded in 2017, Tinychef helps users discover recipes and cook meals via voice guidance on smartphones and smart speakers. ‘TinyChef ‘, which is looking to aggressively expand in the US and European markets over the next few years, is targeting USD 40-50 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) by December 2025,’ said its co-founder Bahubali Shete. The company has over a million users and over one lakh active monthly users in India and well-over 25,000 users in North America (the US and Canada). It has raised over USD 2 million venture capital, including Kanwar Chadha (Binatone Group Chairman) Rajan Anandan (Managing Director, Sequoia), and others along with institutional investors such as SOSV, LetsVenture, IFFCO, and others.

By acquiring Zelish, Tinychef will gain access to the app’s 1.25 lakh users, 35 percent of whom are monthly active users, Shete said. ‘The acquisition of Zelish gives Tinychef a powerful app with a highly engaged user base. Our users will now be able to discover recipes and plan their meals, shop for products, and indulge in voice-guided cooking. This is exciting as voice search queries in India are growing at 270 percent and over 82 percent of smartphone users are already using voice search on a regular basis,’ Shete added. Shete said the potential of the combined solution of the teams will help make Tinychef the default kitchen assistant for every kitchen around the world.

He noted that nearly 4 million recipes were requested and over 1.7 million meals have been cooked using the Tinychef skill on Alexa in India alone, while over half a million recipes were made using Zelish last year. Shete said Tinychef is looking at various revenue models including brand partnerships, subscription and ad-based service for users, and engagement with grocery platforms.

‘Most people who manage the kitchen complain that there is a constant back and forth between operating their phones and managing the said tasks. With Tinychef in the picture, users can look forward to a completely hands-free experience. People will soon be able to relish the Zelish experience on voice assistants like Alexa instead of going back and forth on recipe videos,” she added. The acquisition will also enable the Zelish experience to spread across the Indian sub-continent and grow its presence globally in the North American market as well.

Follow Startup Story