The Cook Hiring Startup Receives Seed Funding From TracxnSyndicate

Cookifi, the Bengaluru-based chef and cook hiring startup, has impressed some of India’s most renowned investors. In a major step toward its expansion plan, the company recently secured an undisclosed sum of seed capital from TracxnSyndicate, an Angel Network which helps promising startups raise funding from value-added investors.

“Keeping current traction in mind, we estimate, on an average, a customer will use Cookifi on-demand three times a month and Cookifi experience once in a month. With this, we estimate the market size to be $20.6 Bn in top six cities of India,” said Harsh Singla, Co-Founder, Cookifi.

He, along with co-founders Prachi Malu and Ajay Modani, saw a business potential in the largely unorganized sector of chefs and cooks on-hire. India’s millennials, always short on time as a result of ever-hectic work lives, are happy to pay for an on-demand chef service that can cater to birthdays, get-togethers, private parties and kitty parties. Homemakers, working professionals and big families are also seeking cooks on-hire. The result of this market need? In 2015, Cookifi was born.

The startup, which has served over 3500 customers, helps people discover chefs and cooks available on-hire near them. Among Cookifi’s features are: transparent pricing, quick online payment system, and a two-way feedback mechanism that allows both the customer and the service provider to rate one another.

Cookifi plans to use TracxnSyndicate’s funding to not only expand operations in other major Indian cities, but to also invest in its technology solutions—enabling customization for house party chefs and menu planning—as part of a better user experience.

Among the investors Cookifi managed to impress are Kunal Shah (Chairman, FreeCharge); Aneesh Reddy (Co-Founder and CEO, Capillary Technologies); Venkat Tadanki (CEO, Secova); Krishna Mehra (Co-Founder, Capillary Technologies); and Amit Rathore (Founder and CEO, Quintype).

“We’re convinced by Cookifi’s mission to organize a large addressable market in the unorganized sector. We see a growing appetite for an on-demand chef service as India’s millennials work longer hours than the previous generation, and they don’t have the time or inclination to cook an elaborate meal. Building a world class customer experience is at the core of such a service, and we’re confident that the Cookifi team will maintain it at scale,” said Neha Singh, Co-Founder, Tracxn.