NEW DELHI: Leading “chai” (tea) cafe chain Chaayos in June announced it has raised $53 million in Series C funding led by Alpha Wave Ventures. The company said it will use the money for tech-enhancement, hiring and store expansion. The latest round saw participation from existing investors Elevation Capital, Tiger Global and Think Investments. Founded in 2012 by Nitin Saluja and Raghav Verma, Chaayos runs 190 stores across six cities and plans to add 100 more by the end of this year.

“The latest capital raise will help us deepen our technology investments to further enhance our guest experience and build a ubiquitous brand that is an integral part of Indian society over decades to come,” said Saluja, Founder and CEO. “We are also continuously on the lookout to hire talent to handle the scale that we aspire for,” he added. At Chaayos, people can personalise their cup of tea in 80,000 combinations with IoT-enabled tea bots called ‘Chai Monks’.

Which started off as a niche use case, Chaayos online Chai deliveries now account for 45 per cent of revenues, said the company. “A unique combination of innovations in food and drinks offerings, strong leverage of technology solutions and obsession over customer satisfaction has positioned Chaayos as a clear leader in their space,” said Deepak Gaur, Partner, Elevation Capital.

“We are impressed by the team’s customer obsession, which is visible in its best in class unit economics and customer NPS,” added Navroz Udwadia, Co-founder, Alpha Wave Global.