Restaurant India News: Subway and Lavazza India Franchisee Secures $15 Million to Scale QSR and Café Network

EverBrands, the master franchise operator of Subway and Lavazza in India, has closed a $15 million funding round led by Playbook Partners. The capital infusion is set to be used to strengthen EverBrands’ multi-brand food and beverage platform and support faster rollout across priority urban markets, reflecting continued investor interest in scalable quick service and café formats.

The funding follows a period of accelerated store expansion for Subway India, which has crossed the 1,000-store mark. Over the last three years, the chain has added outlets at an average pace of nearly two per week, indicating steady network growth in the organised quick service restaurant segment. This scale positions the brand among the larger QSR networks in the country, with implications for supply chain management, franchise operations, and market penetration across Tier I and Tier II cities.

EverBrands operates Subway in India through Culinary Brands India Private Limited. Beyond QSR, the group manages Lavazza Coffee and F&H Coffee, and handles the distribution of Dilmah Tea in India through Fresh and Honest Café Private Limited. The portfolio spans quick service and café-led formats, with a concentration on urban consumption occasions, indicating a strategy focused on high-frequency foodservice categories and brand-led repeat traffic.

Playbook Partners, which led the round, operates as a mid-market investment platform backing businesses built on technology-enabled growth models. The firm was founded by former Reliance Jio executive Vikas Choudhury and targets scalable consumer and growth-stage companies across sectors.

The EverBrands transaction represents Playbook Partners’ third investment in India since the first close of its $250 million fund, indicating a continued focus on the country’s foodservice and consumer platform space. The deal highlights sustained private capital interest in organised QSR and café operators with multi-brand exposure and the ability to scale store networks in dense urban markets.