Joining a growing list of Indian tech startups adopting a cautious approach to public listings, cloud kitchen operator Curefoods has indefinitely put its initial public offering (IPO) plans on hold.

The company, founded by former Flipkart executive Ankit Nagori, had planned to launch an ₹800 crore public issue targeting an implied enterprise valuation of ₹4,000 crore ($420 million). However, recent institutional roadshows failed to secure the desired traction, prompting the company to delay its listing to next year.

The Bottleneck: Disagreements Over a “Loss-Making Premium”

While the platform secured regulatory clearance from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in October 2025, the transition to the public market stalled during discussions with institutional backers.

• The Valuation Standoff: Curefoods conducted a series of investor roadshows seeking a ₹4,000-crore valuation. However, domestic mutual funds and institutional investors pushed back, refusing to offer a significant pricing premium for a loss-making enterprise under current market conditions.
• Sector-Wide Headwinds: Insiders note that public market investors are applying significantly tighter filters to consumer-internet and food-services companies. General growth slowdowns across the food delivery category, paired with an unfavorable outlook on capital-intensive cloud kitchen expansions, heavily dampened investor appetite.

Strong Balance Sheet Softens the Postponement

Fortunately for the startup, the decision to stall the IPO does not signal a cash crunch. Management noted that Curefoods is not in immediate need of equity dilution or capital infusion to maintain operations.

Before executing its roadshows, the company reinforced its treasury by raising ₹160 crore ($18 million) from Binny Bansal’s 3State Ventures in a pre-IPO placement tranche that pinned the company’s valuation to the targeted ₹4,000 crore mark.

Financial Snapshot: Narrowing Losses

Curefoods’ broader business trajectory shows steady top-line growth alongside gradual financial tightening:

Among its vast house of brands, Sharief Bhai Biryani and EatFit remain the largest structural revenue drivers for the firm, followed closely by Olio Pizza and CakeZone.

Part of a Wider 2026 Startup Retreat

Curefoods is far from an isolated casualty of the current choppy macroeconomic landscape. It joins an array of heavily backed tech giants that have recently retreated from IPO timelines due to structural valuation gaps with public fund managers:

• PhonePe: Deferred a massive $1.3 billion IPO in March 2026 following disputes with mutual funds over valuation premiums.
• Flipkart: Indefinitely paused its highly anticipated IPO discussions in May 2026, citing an overcrowded public issue pipeline and a highly volatile global tech environment.

Curefoods intends to monitor macroeconomic trends through the remaining quarters of 2026, aiming to re-initiate the public book-building process in mid-2027 once public investor appetite for consumer tech stabilizes.