Home meals delivery platform, Hometaste raises US$576k via ECF with 89 investors

• Scale as data-driven multi-brand cloud kitchen with 70 kitchens by 2023
• Part of MaGIC's GAP Cohort 5, connected them with mentors, build networks

Hometaste, a leading home-cooked meals delivery platform has successfully raised US$576,000 (RM2.4 million). It attracted the confidence of 89 investors via Malaysia’s leading equity crowdfunding (ECF) platform, pitchIN, with the highest individual investment value at US$192,000 (RM802,000).

Bullish about the future, Hometaste is projecting revenue to exceed RM10 million in 2022.  Founder and CEO, Aston Chua Yee Shen expressed his gratitude for the successful fundraising exercise. “Our team at Hometaste would like to thank all of our investors for their support. Our utmost appreciation also goes to the pitchIN team for their unparalleled breadth of advice and guidance in getting early stage companies like ours to successfully get the funding that we require for our expansion roadmap.” 

[RM1 = US$0.238] 

Founded four years ago in May 2017, Hometaste has a 15,000 customer base, delivering over 18,000 home orders on a monthly basis. Having served over 500,000 pax meals since launch, Hometaste has proven its business model with a revenue growth of 15x since its first year. It has expanded services, unlocking the full potential of home recipes produced by the homepreneurs by incubating them into brands.
“We believe that the rise of the homepreneur is a long-term trend that will continue to accelerate over the next decade.  Whether it is by choice or by default, many more people are opening home-based businesses. Digital disruption and technological innovations have popularised the trend of ordering food online and doorstep delivery.  The funds raised will be used to scale Hometaste as a data-driven multi-brand cloud kitchen with a target to open 70 cloud kitchens by 2023 in Malaysia and eventually expanding beyond the Malaysian shores to other Southeast Asia countries,” said Aston.
Increased efforts toward convenience, comfort and quality of service have also helped the emergence of cloud kitchens.  With changing lifestyles and the pandemic situation, customers are demanding a more convenient way of life, with everything they need to purchase at the touch of a button.  This has spurred the growth and the rise of virtual kitchens. Empowered by a multitude of tools and platforms online, homepreneurs can successfully offer their products and services in a flexible and self-driven framework.

Hometaste realised that home chefs’ potentials were not only limited by resources, but also the lack of platforms for them to leverage. With limited experience in business, they need more comprehensive assistance that also include for example marketing, larger kitchen space, delivery support and ordering system.

To also ensure Hometaste’s customers have better food quality and experiences, tools such as data analytics will be utilised to optimise brands, cuisines, and menus for each target market. With over 70% of workflow automated through an inhouse built system, Hometaste plans to utilise analytics to further improve other aspects such as the estimation of ingredients to reduce food waste and increase revenue. 

Hometaste was part of MaGIC's Global Accelerator Program (GAP) Cohort 5, which connected them with mentors that have helped them build networks during the 3-month program and in ensuring that Hometaste is investment-ready.

Aspiring homepreneurs keen to join Hometaste’s empowering home recipe mission, may get further details here.