Muncher, a chain of dark kitchens born in Colombia, announced the raise of a Series B for US$27 million. The round was led by Mexican venture capital firm Glisco Partners, and the new amount will be used to expand its regional operations.
The company, which presents itself as “the largest chain of dark kitchens in Latin America,” was founded by Juan David Jaramillo, Andrés Villarraga, and Nimrod Molad in 2019. In announcing the round, it communicated that it will seek to increase the 400 food businesses it operates, spread across 11 cities in Colombia, Peru, Mexico, and Brazil, emphasizing the latter two countries.
“Next year, we will build hundreds more kitchens with a hybrid model that helps restaurants take advantage of home delivery and on-site and take-out sales. We will focus on growing in our current and new locations,” said Juan David Jaramillo in a press release.
Muncher wants its platform’s restaurants to be more profitable
The Colombian foodtech is looking for strategic locations to deploy its modular kitchens and digital sales technology, including smart menus, customer data management, and visual integration of all sales channels and business intelligence.
Under this model, it wants to drive the growth of the kitchens that are on its platform with minimal capital expenditure and improve profitability by driving sales and reducing costs.
“Our key differentiators are having top-tier locations with a modular format for off-premise consumption that allows virtual restaurants to deploy quickly and scale more efficiently,” said Andres Villarraga.
Currently, Muncher provides services to its own brands, such as Franco, Nimi’s, Oh My Sandwich, Chiki Chiki, and Mooi, as well as those of its clients, such as Sliders Burger Shop, Panda Express, and Watakushi, to name a few.
Finally, “Muncher’s digital platform has proven to be an ideal channel for influencers such as Luisito Comunica and JuanPa Zurita to cultivate and expand followers for food and restaurant brands in Latin America,” the company said.
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