Recently, Bahubali Shete, Asha Shete, and celebrity Masterchef Sanjeev Kapoor's voice-first culinary AI platform Tinychef are all set to procure Zelish for an undisclosed amount. A Tech-stars accelerator and Bosch and Siemens Home Appliances-backed company, Zelish was started two years ago by Rakesh Edavalath, Saakshi Jain, and Arpit Joseph By acquiring Zelish, Tinychef will also advance access to the app's 125,000 users and 35 percent of whom are monthly active users.
"With Tinychef in the picture, users can look forward to a completely hands-free experience. We are looking forward to the Zelish app spreading across the Indian sub-continent and growing its presence globally in the North American market as well,” said, Zelish, co-founder, Saakshi Jain.
Rakesh Edavalath, co-founder of Zelish added, "Most people who manage the kitchen complain that there is a constant back and forth between operating their phones and managing the said tasks. People will soon be able to relish the Zelish experience on voice assistants like Alexa instead of going back and forth on recipe videos. "
Nearly 4 million recipes were requested and over 1.7 million meals have been cooked using the Tinychef skill on Alexa in India alone and over half a million recipes were made using Zelish last year.
The firm states, "Tinychef already has over a million users and over 100,000 active monthly users in India and within a month of its launch, it has garnered over 25,000 users in North America with the bulk of the user base belonging to the US and Canadian markets.”
The company has raised over $2 million in venture capital. The last Seed round of $1 million was led by accelerator Venture Catalysts. Tinychef is also part of the inaugural cohort of Google for Startups Accelerator: Voice and AI Accelerator Program.
Zelish lets users plan meals, shop for ingredients, and cook based on recipes by celebrity chefs and influencers like Ranveer Brar & Hebbar's Kitchen.
“I am super excited to bring Zelish into Tinychef', would be an understatement given the potential of the combined solution, team, and partnerships that we bring together. I am really bullish that we will make Tinychef as the default kitchen assistant for every kitchen around the world,” said, Tinychef Co-Founder Bahubali Shete.
Celebrity Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, Co-Founder Tinychef, adds, "I have always tried to impact kitchens in India and across the world with simple and healthier recipes and tips that households appreciate. I am looking forward to seeing kitchens across the world get even simpler with these two wonderful brands combining into something even more powerful.”
The app presently has a user holding rate of 40 percent and grocery shopping pilots have seen nearly 50,000 users/month add ingredients to shopping lists across the app/partner channels. Going forward, this acquisition is projected to help Tinychef achieve MoM Growth of 70 percent.