Online food delivery company Zomato
has acquired TechEagle Innovations, a Lucknow based startup that works exclusively
on drones. TechEagle will help Zomato move towards offering drone based food
delivery in India, by creating a hub-to-hub delivery network powered by hybrid
multi-rotor drones.
TechEagle was founded in 2015 by
IIT Kanpur alumni. It works with a prime focus on custom-made drones capable of
carrying up to 5 kg payloads. It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Civil
Aviation (MoCA) recently legalized flying commercial drones and also announced
a policy called Drone Regulations 1.0. While these guidelines banned the use of
drones for delivery of goods and food, on September 19, minister of state for
civil aviation hinted at including a clause on the application of drones for
ecommerce and food delivery in the draft Drone Regulations 2.0.
India is currently in the early
stage of aerial innovations and is taking baby steps towards building a future
where users can expect a drone to deliver the food they ordered online. Zomato
currently delivers 22 Mn monthly orders and is leaving no stone unturned as far
as last-mile delivery is concerned. The company boasts a last-mile delivery
fleet of 1.5 lakh partners and has over 75,000 restaurant partners offering
food delivery services across 100 cities in India.
So
far, Zomato has made 12 acquisitions globally. In the last two years, Runnr
(September 2017) and TongueStun ($18 Mn, September 2018) have
been its prime acquisitions aimed at boosting its food delivery and logistics
network. Other startups acquired by Zomato include MapleGraph, Sparse Labs, NexTable,
Mekanist, Urbanspoon, Cibando, LunchTime, Obedovat, Menu Mania, and
gastronauci.pl.
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