Hyderabad: For decades, Hyderabad’s biryani map had one undisputed landmark: Paradise. But somewhere along the way, as other local restaurants grew, new-age biryani startups scaled up, Paradise lost its edge.Now, armed with Rs 100 crore that it freshly raised, the Samara Capital-backed restaurant is attempting to reclaim its place at the top of the biryani business, not just in Hyderabad, but across the country.The playbook is a mix of technology, data, smaller omni-format stores and, more importantly, an attempt to win back loyalists by reworking the taste of the biryani itself. The goal is to scale Paradise to a Rs 550 crore brand and take its biryani national with 150 stores across South India, followed by Mumbai, Pune and the National Capital Region by FY29.ET first reported Paradise's Rs 100 crore fundraising plan on April 27. With the current raise, Samara has diluted an around 10% stake to new investors. Samara, which acquired Paradise in 2022, had brought in Abhik Mitra as managing director and chief executive last year to lead the turnaround.The first area of focus was the product itself. Based on customer feedback and sensory studies, Paradise has tweaked the biryani recipe, reworked its spices blend and is working on recalibrating chilli levels. Mitra says the aim is to restore the “wow” factor once associated with Paradise biryani.Paradise began in 1953 as a small canteen inside the Paradise movie theatre in Secunderabad. The business expanded significantly after Ali Hemati took complete charge of the restaurant in 1978, helping turn Paradise into a brand that became synonymous with Hyderabad itself.Paradise is now betting not on chefs, but technology, to cook delicious biryani that will taste the same in every city, and every restaurant."Paradise uses SOP-led automated cooking systems, and every stage of the cooking process, from ingredients and marinades to oven performance, is digitally monitored to ensure consistency, while the biryani continues to be freshly cooked at each store," Mitra said. “We are also building AI and ML-based demand forecasting systems to better predict outlet-level demand, reduce wastage and improve freshness.”At a time when brands like Biryani By Kilo and Rebel Foods’s Behrouz Biryani have built businesses around standardisation and delivery, Paradise is betting heavily on technology-led consistency.The next step now is to scale the brand nationally. The first phase of expansion over the next 12-15 months will focus on Bengaluru and Chennai. It will enter Pune, Mumbai and the NCR in the second phase.Paradise plans to move away from large-format legacy restaurants, and instead open smaller 40-seater stores spread across roughly 1,500 sq ft that cater to both dine-in and delivery demand from the same location. This model, the company says, generates 30% annual return on capital with a payback period of two-and-a-half to three years."The physical store presence gives it an advantage over pure-play cloud kitchen operators. Customers who experience the brand in person are more likely to order online later, improving both recall and repeat consumption," Mitra said.While all stores in India will remain company-owned and company-operated, Paradise is actively evaluating international opportunities, where it could consider a franchise route.Alongside restaurants, Paradise is also exploring a wider consumer products play. The company has started discussions with distributors to take its ready-to-cook products to quick commerce platforms such as Zepto and Blinkit. These ready-to-cook products are currently available only in a few of its restaurants in Hyderabad.Samara's bet on Paradise, and the biryani maker's bold expansion plan comes at a time when India’s organised biryani market has emerged as one of the fastest-growing segments in food delivery. The overall biryani market in India is estimated to be about Rs 30,000 crore, with 10% of it being organised.Paradise closed FY26 with revenue of around Rs 250 crore and is currently tracking at a roughly Rs 330 crore annualised revenue run rate. The company said same-store sales growth remains in double digits, while existing stores are growing at nearly 20% annually.