- Technology platform & menu range that enables all commercial kitchens to profit in the delivery-first era – Kbox brands already being delivered by more than 100 kitchens nationwide
- On track for 300 kitchens by December 2020 and 1,000 kitchens worldwide by December 2021, including in the UK, India, GCC, SE Asia, Australia/New Zealand & the US
- Hoxton Ventures’ reputation for backing startups on track for fast global scale-up indicates scale of KBox impact and ambition
- The £5m funding will be used to accelerate KBox’s UK growth plans as well as continued innovation of its technology offering.Host kitchen tech provider, KBox Global, has announced a £5m investment by VC fund Hoxton Ventures to scale up its growing presence in the UK food delivery market.Food delivery, which had already grown 40% in five years, has been accelerated by the global health crisis, including into new demographics. But most restaurants are static, using one kitchen and serving up one brand, leading to a world full of underutilised, unprofitable kitchens.So called dark kitchens are following the same model, which means when the brand goes down, the kitchen goes with it.
In the delivery first era, Kbox helps people with a passion for serving food to make smarter use of their kitchens and provide more of the food that delivery customers want the most, with agility to change it up. Pop-up brands for sustainable host kitchens.
KBox uses existing spare commercial kitchen capacity, in restaurants, hotels, pubs, casinos, gyms, to prepare multiple delivery brands from the same venue. By lowering the investment barriers to food delivery expansion, powered by Kbox, kitchen owners can turbo charge their revenue, without additional spend on real estate, menu or customer research, or staff upskilling.
The model is underpinned by a technology offering rich customer insight and up to the minute data to make the kitchen hyper responsive to local demand. Its unique black box solution entirely automates this process, allowing owners to benefit not just from their own kitchen, but through the powerful network effect of hundreds of host kitchens all sharing relevant brand performance data.
As the founder of Absurd Bird, a six restaurant chicken chain, and armed with a track record of enabling entrepreneurs to expand their concepts across international markets, Kbox owner Salima Vellani, is passionate about supporting restaurants and on-premises food outlets to rethink their entire model and capitalise on the opportunity of the delivery age.
Salima Vellani, KBox founder, said:
“The post-Covid economy requires delivery first brands and a delivery first mindset. The old economics of investment in bricks and mortar and expansion of kitchen facilities is both unnecessary and increasingly unworkable. The answer isn’t new kitchens, it’s to use our existing ones better.
“Restaurant owner operators are some of the hardest working and entrepreneurial people out there but they don’t have the time or often the resources to think about technology or innovation. Kbox was born to resolve those issues.
“We are rethinking the kitchen for the delivery-first age for the benefit of food providers, the wider industry, and consumers. I’m delighted that Hoxton Ventures’ shares our vision to transform the future of the food delivery market – for the benefit of the entire hospitality ecosystem”
Hussein Kanji, founding partner of Hoxton Ventures, added:
“KBox’s understanding of the global trend in food delivery is unrivalled. Coupled with Salima’s driven vision for how the market needs to evolve, and her innovative solution for kitchen owners and food entrepreneurs alike, Hoxton Ventures’ backing was in no doubt.
“Our ethos is to work with founders with big ambitions on a mission to address an industry challenge. Salima and KBox have already established the potential for revolutionising the delivery space, and we are only too pleased to join them on their growth journey.”
Fire Up Your Kitchens – Kbox Global Backed by Hoxton Ventures in £5M Investment to Transform the Economics of the Food Delivery Market
