New Delhi-based LimeTray raises investment from Matrix Partners India

The INR 3,000 crore invetsment firm, Matrix Partners India has announced the first institutional round of funding for LimeTray. With the portfolio comprising of companies like LimeRoad, Chumbak Designs, MSwipe (mobile POS), Newshunt (mobile local language platform), Ola (cab marketplace), Quikr (online classifieds), Stayzilla (stays marketplace); the firm invests in companies targeting the Indian consumer market at the seed, early and early growth stages.

Earlier, Umang Kumar (CEO Gaadi.com), Ankur Warikoo (Head-APAC, Groupon), Ankur Singla (CEO, Akosha), Anurakt Jain, and Kunal Khattar have also invested in LimeTray.

LimeTray- One year and 200 restaurants

LimeTray is the brand name under which Alchemy Web Private Limited provides restaurants with a platform to run day-to-day operations including ordering, online presence management, and CRM. The company has already signed up over 200 restaurants, mainly in the Delhi NCR area. Akhilesh Bali, founder and CEO of company said,

Our vision is to build a full-stack technology platform for restaurants across India. We are restaurant-first in our approach, and want to enable more and more restaurants to come online and solve critical business needs using our platform. We decided to partner with Matrix Partners India as we believe they will give us the necessary edge to win in this market.

Akhilesh and Piyush Jain started Alchemy web in 2013. Both have extensive experience in the technology space as well as restaurant space. Akhilesh has previously led FoodPanda India and ran start-up called MithaiMate (sweets delivery) while Piyush was earlier the Head of Online Marketing at FoodPanda.

Matrix Partners India to make multiple investments along this theme

Vikram Vaidyanathan, Managing Director, Matrix India. commented on the deal,

Restaurants are adopting a range of mobile-first technology at a rapid pace to solve their business needs be it discovery, dining experience, ordering, loyalty or restaurant management. The Food-tech market is deep enough to have multiple winners. We believe other SMEs are also ready to adopt technology. Matrix Partners India will make multiple investments along this theme.

What other investors think

Umang Kumar, CEO, Gaadi.com believes that Akhilesh and Piyush have an interesting restaurant-first approach to build a business in India. He says, "It is a space that has seen large value creation in most markets abroad. I decided to invest in them based on their drive and the unique insights they had about food ordering space."

Ankur Warikoo, Head-APAC, Groupon thinks of Akhilesh as someone with an unbridled passion and entrepreneurial instinct. That, coupled with the fact that he was solving a pressing problem for restaurants, convinced him(Ankur) to back him(Akhilesh) on this journey.

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