Box8 raises INR7 crore venture debt from Trifecta Capital

Box8, the online food tech startup, has raised INR7 crore of venture debt from Trifecta Capital for expansion into the domestic market. It is in addition to the INR50 crore of Series B funding that the firm raised from IIFL Seed Ventures Fund & Mayfield. Founded by Amit Raj and Anshul Gupta, the startup is a full stack online food delivery player that caters primarily to Mumbai, Pune & Bengaluru. It serves ~14,000 meals per day through a network of over 65 stores across the 3 cities, and plans to use the freshly raised capital to expand geographically in both new cities as well as penetrating further into existing markets.

Amit Raj, co-founder of Box8, said that “Venture debt is an excellent proposition since it provides access to debt where traditional bank lending doesn’t participate and does that without diluting equity, unlike venture capital. This will help us maintain a balance in our financial structure & at the same time, keep growing at a rapid pace”. Adding on to his words, Rahul Khanna, Co-founder of Trifecta Capital commented that “We have been monitoring the online food delivery sector for almost two years. More than 150 start-ups were funded in this space and as a venture debt provider, it was important for us to wait until some clarity emerged on the business models that would survive. Box8 has demonstrated ability to grow quickly with focus on Indian food and has established a strong value proposition proven by high repeat customer behavior”.