Zomato invests in Pickingo, Grab; partners Delhivery

Restaurant listings and review firm Zomato Media Pvt Ltd, which operates through zomato.com, has invested in hyperlocal delivery startups Pickingo and Grab while partnering with e-commerce logistics firm Delhivery.

With these arrangements, Zomato will now enable home delivery of food from restaurants and eateries that don't offer such services otherwise, as per a press statement.

Financial details of the transactions were not disclosed.

"We will work closely with Pickingo, Grab and Delhivery to improve the last-mile delivery experience for users placing orders online on Zomato. So far, restaurants have been delivering on their own, but with this partnership, we will also be able to target restaurants across the country that don't otherwise deliver," said Deepinder Goyal, founder and CEO of Zomato.

"We are also launching our online ordering service in Dubai, Australia and South Africa later this month. Along similar lines, we are also in conversation with hyperlocal logistics firms in other countries to ensure that we are able to provide a seamless and quality experience to our users there," he added.

In May, Zomato launched a new app called Order, allowing users to order food through its platform.

Just like countless other food ordering apps, Zomato Order too enables users to view menus and ratings, and order for free from a range of restaurants. Customers can search by restaurant name or location, and see places that deliver to their location; give their current location or select a new location for delivery; add frequently used locations to their address book for quick orders; track order status with real-time notifications; and see all previous orders and reorder from the list.

Pickingo Logixpress Pvt Ltd, the Gurgaon-based company behind Pickingo, had started operations last December by doing reverse logistics for e-commerce majors Jabong, Snapdeal, Shopclues and Paytm across six cities. Now, Pickingo has tie ups with over 300 restaurants, pharmacies and grocery outlets.

"This investment will not only infuse funds into the company but will also allow us to scale rapidly with Zomato's online ordering business, while also leveraging Zomato's strong relationship with restaurants across the country. We have already started working together to deliver from select restaurants in New Delhi, and we look forward to taking this partnership further," said Rahul Gill, co-founder and CEO of Pickingo. Last month, Pickingo raised $1.3 million in funding from venture capital firm Orios Venture Partners and Toppr.com co-founder Zishaan Hayath.

Mumbai-based Grab A Grub Services Pvt Ltd (Grab), a food logistics startup which essentially provides third-party food delivery service to restaurants, has over 500 riders (delivery boys) in Mumbai and connects users to more than 350 restaurants. It delivered orders worth Rs 35 crore in Mumbai for the year ended March 31, 2015. In April, Grab raised $1 million (Rs 6.3 crore) from Oliphans Capital and former Network18 CEO Haresh Chawla. "Last mile logistics are a challenge for most merchants across India, especially restaurants, and we view this investment as a great opportunity to solve this problem using technology along with Zomato. We have already rolled this out with Zomato in Mumbai, and will extend to other cities in the next couple of weeks. These are exciting times for food-tech in India," said Pratish Sanghvi, co-founder and director of Grab.

Gurgaon-based e-commerce logistics firm SSN Logistics Pvt. Ltd, which operates under the brand Delhivery, has over 10,000 employees in more than 200 cities. It has nearly one million square feet of warehousing space across 11 fulfilment centres.

"The food-tech space in India is heating up, and we're excited about this partnership with Zomato. Delivery logistics for restaurants have always been a challenge, and we believe the technology-first approach will help simplify operations for them, as well as enrich customer experiences," said Sahil Barua, founder and CEO of Delhivery. In May, Delhivery raised $85 million in Series D funding led by Tiger Global with participation from existing investors Multiples Alternate Asset Management, Nexus Venture Partners and Times Internet Ltd.

Quoting unnamed sources, a news report in The Times of India said today that Zomato is in talks with Singapore-based Temasek Holdings and others to raise $60-80 million for expanding its delivery business. A spokesperson for Zomato did not comment on the development.