Hyderabad (Telangana), [India], April 29 (ANI): Paradise Biryani plans to add at least 100 new stores across cities, including Bangalore, Chennai, Bombay, Pune and Delhi as it looks to scale its presence and dominate India's biryani category, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company, Abhik Mitra said Wednesday.

Speaking with ANI, Mitra said the Hyderabad-based brand is riding strong momentum after posting about 25% growth in Q4 and double-digit growth in the second half of last year. 'There's a good sort of tailwind in the business now to continue to grow the business,' he said.

Mitra attributed the growth to a store model that is now 'working very well' and delivering store revenue upwards of 20%. 'Paradise believes that our business model is to serve great food and great service. And as part of that, now we have a model which is working very well,' he said. The company currently operates 57 outlets and intends to expand this format aggressively across major metros to build a nationwide footprint.

To fund the expansion, Paradise is raising capital through a mix of private equity and domestic family offices. Mitra said, 'As we raise capital and India as you know now has a lot of capital to invest, we are going for a combination of capital from Samara as well as from domestic family offices to fund this expansion in this particular phase.'

Media reports said earlier this week that Paradise Biryani was looking to raise around Rs 100 crore to support the rollout, with Samara Capital, which owns 100% of Paradise Food Court, in talks with several Indian family offices. Samara is expected to dilute about 10-12% stake in the 12-year-old portfolio company to bring in a new investor. The fresh capital will be used primarily for expansion, with the aim of opening 100 new outlets over the next three years and taking the network to nearly 160 stores, the reports noted.

The company currently has outlets in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Gurugram, and plans to enter Pune, Kolkata, New Delhi, Guntur and Warangal as part of the next phase. With annual revenue of about Rs 300 crore, Paradise is targeting a dominant position in the biryani segment, which has been benefiting from rising online food delivery demand, stronger consumer spending and a growing preference for organised food chains.

Samara initially acquired a 35% stake in Paradise in 2014 for Rs 70 crore before buying out the remaining 65% from promoters for Rs 400 crore in 2022, various media reports said. The fundraising comes amid growing investor interest in regional food chains, following deals such as the Havells Group family office's investment in Dindigul Thalappakatti at a valuation of Rs 860 crore in 2021. (ANI)