Curry Up Now has attracted a new investment from seed-stage venture capital firm Liquid 2 Ventures (L2V). This investment comes at a pivotal time, as the Indian fast casual has more than 50 franchise and corporate locations in varying stages of development across the United States, including two franchised locations that recently opened in Atlanta, Ga. and Orange County, Calif.
Curry Up Now began as a food truck in 2009 and was founded by husband and wife duo, Akash and Rana Kapoor, and ably supported by co-founder and Senior VP of Operations, Amir Hosseini.
Since day one, Curry Up Now has been on a mission to serve Indian flavors and ingredients in a way that is approachable for the everyday American consumer, utilizing formats that are more recognizable to the mainstream. Their signature dishes include burritos, bowls, tacos, Naughty Naan, and more, as well as a wide variety of Indian street food snacks and traditional dishes like Thali Platters, Kathi Rolls, and Bhel Puri. Ingredients are clean and sourced from local vendors whenever possible, and the menu is designed to support vegan, gluten-free, and Halal diets in an effort to accommodate all guests, no matter their dietary preferences. Curry Up Now also limits their disposal waste by using real plates, silverware and cloth napkins in-house and packaging all to-go orders in recyclable and compostable containers.
“We’re honored and excited to have the support of Liquid 2 Ventures, an investor who can bring both financial capital and a wealth of experience to support our efforts to strategically grow Curry Up Now,” says Curry Up Now’s Co-Founder Amir Hosseini.
Liquid 2 Ventures, which is also headquartered in the Bay Area, is a seed-stage venture capital firm created for the post-cloud, post-mobile, post-accelerator world of technology startups. It was built by a team of ex-founders including Hall of Fame Quarterback and serial angel investor, Joe Montana, Mike Miller, a Ph.D. Physicist and founder of Cloudant, and Michael Ma, a Harvard graduate and founder of Talkbin. Curry Up Now will be the first restaurant is L2V’s portfolio and the investment will support the rapid growth and expansion of both corporate and franchised locations.
“We are very excited about the investment opportunity in the Curry Up Now concept; while at first glance restaurants don’t seem like a typical venture capital investment, we’ve seen companies such as Sweetgreen achieve venture growth,” adds L2V General Partner Joe Montana. “Curry Up Now represents a big opportunity combining great product, in this case, amazing food, with a management team that is using the cutting edge of software to bring startup-style growth to the [quick-service] world.”
Experts in the hospitality industry project that Indian food will continue to be the fastest-growing ethnic food segment in the U.S. In the last ten years, the Kapoors have expanded the Curry Up Now empire to include three food trucks, eight brick-and-mortar restaurants spanning coast to coast, and a globally-inspired craft cocktail bar concept, Mortar & Pestle, that is housed within select Curry Up Now restaurants. In 2020 alone, Curry Up Now anticipates opening 12 locations across the country including Sacramento, Calif., Hoboken, N.J., and Fort Union, Utah.
