Rebel Foods hands co-founders $20M in fresh ESOPs ahead of IPO push
What's the deal? Cloud kitchen operator Rebel Foods has approved a fresh employee stock option (ESOP) grant worth about US$23.1M to its five co-founders. The board cleared 25.36 lakh options at an exercise price of US$9.1 each, according to the company's latest filing.
Who gets what? Co-founder and chief executive officer Ankush Grover received the largest allocation — 17.09 lakh options worth US$15.6M. Jaydeep Barman followed with 4.27 lakh options valued at US$3.89M, while Piyush Kakkad, Soumyadeep Barman, and Ankur Sharma each got 1.34 lakh options worth roughly US$1.22M.
Why now? Grover replaced Barman as CEO in July 2025 with a mandate to steer Rebel Foods toward profitability and ready it for a potential public listing. A significant portion of his grant appears tied to milestones.
The numbers: The Mumbai-based firm reported FY26 operating revenue of US$265M, up 20%, while losses narrowed 16.3% to US$38.3M. The grant is equity, not fresh cash for the business.
Rebel Foods operates brands including Faasos, Behrouz BiryaniDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Oven Story Pizza, Sweet Truth, and The Good Bowl. It has raised nearly $803 million to date, with backers including Peak XV Partners, Coatue, the Qatar Investment Authority, and Lightbox.
What could go wrong? The milestone-linked structure ties founder payouts to execution investors will scrutinise ahead of a listing. Earlier this year, the company shut down QuickiES, its 15-minute food delivery app, within a year of launch due to high cash burn.
The signal: The award aligns founder incentives with the profitability and public-market readiness Rebel Foods is chasing. Its value now hinges on whether the company delivers the execution improvements investors expect.
Read more: entrackr.com
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