Street food restaurant chain Yumlok is talks with investors to raise USD 1 million by the end of this fiscal to support its expansion plans.The company at present operates four outlets.

It plans to open 50 outlets by 2020 across the country."We are in talks with investors to raise USD 1 million by March. We plan to use this fund to open new outlets, marketing and brand building," Yumlok Founder and CEO Avinash Gupta said. Yumlok got an undisclosed amount of angel funding from Naman Sarawagi (who also invested in Cashfree and DailyNinja) and Ashish Agarwal (founder of Digital Harbor and member of Mumbai Angels) in 2016. The company plans to expand its footprint through a combination of company-owned and franchised outlets. Yumlok plans to open outlets in metros and tier I and II cities such as Ahmedabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Bhopal and Indore.

In December 2017 the Bengaluru based street food restaurant said it plans to invest Rs 50 crore in setting up 50 stores by 2020. The two-year-old startup’s assumption for this ambitious plan? High demand for food that tastes like it was made at home yet lack of time to do so.

“Our youth contributes to 28 percent of our population of 1.3 billion. Youth population of India has liberal mindset. They encourage experimentation with greater consumption. Eating out is often seen as habit among youngsters rather than occasion driven activity. Digital India has helped us in market penetration and prompt home delivery. Keeping all these in mind, time is just right to expand. Our processes are at place. So the key here is speed with right product, process, place and price,” Avinash Gupta, founder of Yumlok had said in a statement.

A few popular dishes of the restaurant are Delhi style chaats, Mumbaiya pav bhaji, Bihari sattu paratha Indo-western fusion cuisine, like the ‘US Aunty Wali Chaats’, a blend of western recipes with Indian spices.

According to Gupta, millennial and Gen Z are driving the growth of QSR and Online 2 Stores segments as they don’t have much time to spend on food due to their multi-tasking and digital media habits.

The street food business is estimated to be about Rs 3 trillion and the organized sector holds about 20 percent market share. “Value for money and authentic taste will make your position stable in an over-crowded market of QSR industries,” he suggested.

Yumlok completes around 10,000 orders a month with an average order value of Rs.325.

Reads their website: “We try to promote a dynamic synergy between Homely Taste, Rich Ingredients and Desi recipes to create a food which you always look for. We turn simple ingredients into well-crafted, flavorful, authentic Street foods and meals. Our innovative desi combinations and explosive flavors deliver crave-ability and versatility for a broader audience”.