**Salad Days Secures ₹30 Crore in Series A Funding for Expansion**
Salad Days, a restaurant and cloud kitchen brand, has successfully raised ₹30 crore in its Series A funding round, co-led by V3 Ventures and Client Associates Alternate Fund (CAAF). This funding marks the company’s first institutional investment after more than a decade of operating as a bootstrapped business. Founded in 2014 by Varun Madan in the Delhi-NCR region, Salad Days offers a variety of healthy options including salads, oatmeal bowls, soups, cold-pressed juices, smoothies, and desserts, operating through both cloud kitchens and physical outlets.
The company has seen a surge in demand for healthy food following the pandemic, prompting Madan to expand beyond Delhi-NCR into markets like Bengaluru in 2023 and Mumbai in 2024. “With this funding, we aim to support our future expansion. We have gained valuable insights over the past three years and plan to accelerate the opening of our cloud kitchens. In the next six to nine months, we will explore additional formats and enhance our subscription services,” stated Madan, founder and CEO of Salad Days. The future growth strategy will focus on cloud kitchens, with plans to add 15 to 20 kitchens annually.
Currently, Salad Days operates 25 cloud kitchens, with 12 outlets in Delhi-NCR, 9 in Bengaluru, and 4 in Mumbai. Madan emphasized the importance of profitability, stating, “While we are keen to enter new cities, our primary focus remains on expanding in existing markets.” According to a recent report by Redseer Strategy Consultancy, the Indian food services market was valued at $80 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10-11% through 2030. The market is already home to major global chains like Pizza Hut, Domino’s, Burger King, and McDonald’s, alongside the rise of aggregators such as Swiggy and Zomato.
Rohan Agarwal, partner at Redseer Strategy Consultancy, noted that the cloud kitchen model allows for rapid scalability, enabling new brands to achieve ₹100 crore in revenue within 2-3 years, compared to the 6-10 years typically required for dine-in establishments. This trend highlights growing investor interest in niche restaurant segments, such as desserts and salads, which can be scaled nationally. Madan, a former consultant, remarked that the demand for healthy food has become more genuine in the last few years, with this category outpacing overall food service market growth. Arjun Vaidya, co-founder and managing partner at V3 Ventures, added that Salad Days aligns perfectly with the evolving food consumption trends in India.
