A gourmet start-up backed by an IT professional

At the age of 35, Raju Bhupati was the youngest Director at IT company CSC, heading its Global Practice of Testing with 4,200 people working in the team. He quit the job about a year ago to pursue his personal interests in music and entrepreneurship.

In the past one year, he hit several milestones, including launching an album titled Zill , for which he penned two songs and composed music, and finishing a book, Divine Showers . He is also associated with Adaequare, an analytics firm. On Thursday, Bhupati marked another important day in his entrepreneurial career – he launched a fast-food service, Hello Curry, in Hyderabad.

No delivery charge Hello Curry, owned by Bhupati’s Red Sprout Foods Pvt Ltd and backed by the ₹100-crore start-up grooming fund SRI Capital, promises delivery of Indian food in 30 minutes. And all food items are priced in the range of ₹89-149. The company won’t charge for delivery. “You know fast food is something that is associated with Western food. It is generally believed that Indian food is not suitable to offer as fast food in its real sense,” Bhupati says. To start with, he launched the service in the Madhapur and Gachibowli areas in Hyderabad, home for IT, BPO and media companies. Customers in the area can place their orders either through the phone or the company’s Website.

“We keep everything ready and as the order comes, we can prepare the food in a few minutes and deliver the same in 30 minutes. We call it food-on-the go,” he adds.

According to the business model, a central kitchen will serve as a hub, which will feed satellite kitchens and standalone stores. The first physical store of Hello Curry will be opened in Hyderabad in July.

Working with a group of food technologists, Bhupati has developed some proprietary processes that can deliver standard taste, irrespective of the location and the chef who mans the kitchen. “You know, cooking generally depends on the mood of the cook. But our processes ensure a standardised taste,” he says.

Bhupati’s idea to launch a fast food service that suits Indian palate attracted his former boss at AppLabs (which was sold to CSC) and serial entrepreneur and investor Sashi Reddi. Reddi’s SRI Capital has invested ₹3 crore in Red Sprout Foods.

Powered by IT Hello Curry comes with Internet-based solutions that help customers place an order, pose a query and track their orders. “The moment you place an order, you will get an SMS conforming the order, with the name and number of delivery boy,” Bhupati says.

Funds from SRI Capital would be utilised to launch the service in four of the six zones in Hyderabad. “We will go for second round of funding to expand into Chennai and Bangalore.”