Wow! Momo is an Indian chain of

fast food Fast food is a type of Mass production, mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. ''Fast food'' is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheat ...

restaurants headquartered in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

. The chain specializes in

momo Momo may refer to: Geography * Momo (department), Cameroon, a division of Northwest Province * Momo, Gabon, a town in the Woleu-Ntem province * Momo, Piedmont, a town in the province of Novara, Italy People Given name or nickname Athletes * ...

(specifically Nepali Mo:Mo), momo-filled burgers (MoBurgs) and momo-based desserts. It was established in 2008 by

St. Xavier's College A multitude of schools and universities have been named after St. Francis Xavier, a Spanish Roman Catholic saint and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. This page lists notable educational institutions named after St. Xavier, arranged by country a ...

alumni Sagar Daryani and Binod Homagai. As of December 2021, there are around 425 outlets across 19 cities in India. Wow! Momo Foods Pvt. Ltd. operates 3 Brands; Wow! Momo, Wow! China and Wow! Chicken which was launched in December 2021. As per ''Fintrackr''’s estimates, Wow! Momo in 2022 raised fresh investment in Series D round at a valuation of $270 million.

History

The founders of Wow! Momo, Sagar Jagdish Daryani and Binod Kumar Homagai, first met each other at

during their undergrad. With an initial amount of ₹30,000, they started the venture in 2008 at the age of 21. Wow! Momo began as a 6' by 6' kiosk in a Spencer's, which was one of their initial stores (the other one being a kiosk inside a

Big Bazaar Reliance Smart Bazaar, formerly known as Big Bazaar, is an Indian retail chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores, and grocery stores. The retail chain was founded by Kishore Biyani under his parent organisation Future Group, which i ...

on rent for 18% of revenue share per month). They were later joined by another St. Xavier's alumnus and friend Shah Miftaur Rahman, and Muralikrishnan joined as the fourth co-founder in 2018.. Wow! Momo, in June 2017, managed to raise ₹44 crore from Lighthouse funds and through investments by Indian Angel Network. A year later, Fabindia's managing director, William Bissell, invested ₹3

crore Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...

(US$440,000) in the company, which helped Wow! Momo reach a valuation of ₹300

(US$45 million). And in September 2019, after an investment by

Tiger Global Management Tiger Global Management, LLC (often referred to as Tiger Global and formerly known as Tiger Technology) is an American investment firm founded by Chase Coleman III, a former Tiger Management employee under Julian Robertson, in March 2001. It ma ...

of ₹130

(US$23 million), the valuation of the company crossed ₹860 crore (US$120 million), which led to the opening of more outlets in commercial locations like malls and tech parks. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Wow! Momo entered into a strategic partnership with

Café Coffee Day Café Coffee Day (CCD) is an Indian multinational chain of coffeehouses headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It is a subsidiary of Coffee Day Enterprises Limited. Internationally, CCD is present in Austria, Czech Republic, Malaysia, Nepal and ...

, in which they decided to share outlet space along with costs and revenue. In January 2024, Wow! Momo raised approximately ₹410 crore in funding from Khazanah Nasional Berhad and Oaks Capital Management, bringing the company's valuation to over ₹2,400 crore. In April 2024, Wow! Momo managed to raise $9 million (₹70 crore) from Z3 Partners.

Legal challenges

In March 2023, in a trademark dispute, the Delhi High Court issued a prima facie injunction against the restaurant chain Wow Punjabi, temporarily restraining it from using a mark resembling that of Wow! Momo. The court acknowledged Wow! Momo's registered trademarks and market presence, noting Wow Punjabi’s failure to respond to cease and desist notices.

References

{{Reflist Restaurants established in 2008 Fast-food chains of India Fast-food franchises Indian brands Brand name snack foods Companies based in Kolkata 2008 establishments in West Bengal Indian companies established in 2008