Zomato acquires TechEagle

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.

Zomato acquires Sparse Labs

Online restaurant ordering and discovery portal Zomato acquired logistic technology start-up Sparse Labs, as it looks to improve the delivery experience. Sparse Labs has developed an Android based mobile Application which transmits delivery executive’s location to both the restaurant and the consumer in real time.

This technology is critical as for Zomato as 80% of its delivery orders are fulfilled by restaurants. Main rival Swiggy owns its delivery fleet and is counting on controlling the experience as its differentiator. The company said that the Sparse Labs will be renamed as Zomato Trace, and will give free of cost to restaurants on Zomato Food delivery network. Zomato added that restaurants also have the option of using “a proprietary GPS tracker developed by Sparse that can be fitted onto bikes.”

Till last April, Zomato seemed to be considerably hungry, acquiring several startups for its kitty. After that, all was silent for a while, with new of firing and lower valuations. Now, Zomato seems to be back in the acquisition game. After raising a $50 Million round recently, with a valuation of over $1 Billion, the company has begun a buying spree outside its bread and butter restaurant listing companies.

After a bunch of acquisitions across various geographies, Zomato also acquired MapleGraph to launch Zomato Base and has just acquired US based NexTable, a restaurant reservations and table management platform that competes against the likes of Priceline’s OpenTable and SeatMe from Yelp. The company traffic had reportedly grown three times after it acquired UrbanSpoon, and the number of restaurants on the platform supposedly grew seven times and is even present in 23 countries. 

Zomato acquires US based NexTable

After acquiring data firm MaplePOS few days back, now India based restaurant listing site Zomato has acquired US based restaurant reservations and table management platform NexTable. Service will soon be renamed as ‘Zomato Book’. Zomato will be taking NexTable technology in three international markets i.e. India, UAE, and Australia. This is the company second acquisition in US after Urbanspoon for $52 Million.

NexTable enables customers to make restaurant reservations online in real time and includes table management and marketing tools for restaurants. Zomato has been focusing on creating a seamless in app-experience for customers, and has been working on moving beyond just restaurant search and discovery, into reservations, online ordering, and in-app cash payments.

Zomato has been aggressively growing its product offering for restaurant business. Adding NexTable and MaplePOS into the fold now enables Zomato to offer POS Solutions, table management and reservation system services to restaurant businesses. It already allows restaurants businesses to update their menus, deals and discounts on a real time basis on Zomato.

The NexTable deals make for a total of nine acquisitions in the past nine months for Zomato. The largest of these was the acquisition of Urbanspoon. Zomato has also acquired dominant local restaurant search players in New Zealand, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Turkey, and Italy.

Zomato acquires Turkey based Mekanist

Online restaurant search service company Zomato continues to be on an acquisition store. The firm, launched in 2008 and valued at $660 Million, announced it had acquired Turkey based Mekanist. However, the company did not disclose the size of the deal, but it is estimated at $35-50 Million. This is Zomato seventh acquisition in last seven months.

A few days earlier, Zomato had acquired Urbanspoon in the US for $52 Million. With the acquisition of Mekanist, the restaurant search company will expand into several cities in Turkey. Its coverage will increase from about 27,500 restaurants in Istanbul and Ankara to about 75,000 across the country, serving users about three million times a month.

Ali Servet Eyuboglu and Eren founded Mekanist eight years ago. Zomato had forayed into Turkey in November 2013, making its website and apps available to users in Turkish and English. Through the next two months, the company will roll out an integrated product in the two languages for users and business owners. Zomato has a team of 27 people in Turkey; most of them who are is based out of Istanbul.

Mekanist has about 190,000 listed establishments such as popular restaurants, cafes, and bars, along with about 500,000 reviews from its 1.5 Million signed up user base on the web and mobile platforms. Mekanist entire traffic and restaurant related content would now move to Zomato, while Mekanist app users will be able to use the Zomato app. In addition, restaurants could benefit from Zomato hyper-local advertising model and target customers. The ‘Zomato for Business’ app suite will help restaurant businesses connect and engage with customers. 

Zomato acquires Urbanspoon

Online restaurant guide Zomato has stepped into lion’s den in the United States with an estimated $60 Million (Rs 370 cr) acquisition of Seattle based food portal Urbanspoon. This deal will bring into direct confrontation with Yelp. This is Zomato sixth acquisition in the last six months and their first in 2015. Zomato is also in talks to raise $100 Million after this deal.

Urbanspoon is an IAC owned restaurant information and recommendation service that operates in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Hence, this acquisition also establishes Zomato presence in Australia and Canada, while adding to its position in United Kingdom and New Zealand. After the acquisition, Zomato will be present in 22 countries across the world. Its restaurant coverage will increase from about 300k restaurants to more than 1 Million restaurants across the globe.

The teams will be working closely over the coming months to integrate Urbanspoon into Zomato. In due course of time, all Urbanspoon traffic will move to Zomato.com, and all Urbanspoon app users will be able to use the Zomato app. This acquisition also has a lot to offer to restaurant business. Zomato hyper local advertising model, combined with the Zomato for Business app suite, will allow restaurant businesses to reach out to, connect with, and engage customers like never before.

This is the biggest acquisition of Zomato in the last six months. It has recently acquired local restaurant search player in New Zealand, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Italy. The startup is likely to be valued at about $1 Billion after completing the fresh round of investment. With their aggressive expansions in the world, investors are planning to invest more in the company. After this acquisition Zomato is in clear competition with Yelp, which is a public listed company and world largest.