Bengaluru-based restaurant company Popo Global, which operates The Pizza Bakery, Paris Panini and Smash Guys, has raised Rs 532 crore ($56 million) from investment firm Artal Asia. The company plans to deploy the fresh capital towards expanding its restaurant footprint across India and scaling its portfolio of food and beverage brands. Unlike a franchise-led model, Popo Global operates its restaurants directly, allowing it to retain control over operations across its outlets. Founded by brothers Abhijit Gupta and Nikhil Gupta, Popo Global started with The Pizza Bakery in Bengaluru in 2017. It has since expanded the brand's presence and added Paris Panini and Smash Guys to its portfolio. The company has focused on building company-owned outlets across the casual dining and quick service restaurant segments. While the company did not disclose details of the transaction, Moneycontrol had earlier reported that Popo Global was in talks with global private equity firm Invus Group to raise around Rs 500 crore for a minority stake. The proposed transaction was expected to value the company at around Rs 1,100 crore to Rs 1,350 crore. Popo Global reported revenue of around Rs 175 crore in FY25 and remained profitable during the year, according to Moneycontrol. The latest capital infusion is expected to support the company's expansion plans across its restaurant brands. Bareback Media has recently raised funding from a group of investors. Some of the investors may directly or indirectly be involved in a competing business or might be associated with other companies we might write about. This shall, however, not influence our reporting or coverage in any manner whatsoever. You may find a list of our investorshere.
