Culinary lovers would love to hear this. Zomato, an online restaurant finder, officially announced yesterday (19/11) that the company has just sealed a $60 million of funding from a group of investors consists of Vy Capital, Info Edge, and Sequoia Capital, which boosts Zomato’s valuation to $660 million. The money is planned to be spent on its global expansion and product development.
“The Zomato team has shown a phenomenal work in developing Zomato since we started investing there four years ago. We are extremely proud to be in the part of the company’s success in building its fortune both in and outside India,” said Info Edge’s Founder Sanjeev Bikchandani in his release.
Alexander Tamas, Vy Capital’s Co-Founder, agreed with Bikchandani by stating that Zomato is one of successful India-based global companies which is well-executed. “We wish to establish a long-term partnership with the team as they have put themselves in the global industry very well,” he added.
Zomato Indonesia’s Country Manager Willian Tunggaldjaja welcomed the funding enthusiastically. He suggested that the funding will positively affect his Zomato Indonesia’s development. “This is huge and will affect Zomato’s development in a positive way. The money may be spent on expansion to new countries as well as revolutionary products development. For us, we are really glad as the funding may help us expanding to new cities and developing our local team,” he mentioned.
Zomato, which was established in 2008 and is headquartered in New Delhi, India, presents detailed information on restaurants in no less than 18 countries. Besides providing the restaurants’ menus, it also works on providing their images, maps, and reviews as well. So far, the company has hired around 900 employees in 100 cities all over the world. Currently, it gets visited by 300 million visitors in a month, which results on 300% of increase on its revenue compared to last year.
“Zomato has grown significantly as a world-class local guide for people to find their desired restaurants. A couple of years ago, we have added eight new countries and millions new users. It’s no longer only an online guide, but has been developed into a global community which is controlled by social interaction. This is our delighting point, as we accelerate our global growth and help people re-defining their dining experience,” Zomato’s Founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal stated.
Besides providing free services which may be accessed through mobile app that is compatible with iOS, Android, and Windows Phone, Zomato is also in the course of developing an app called “Zomato for Business”, which will help restaurant owners developing their businesses as well as interacting with customers.
So far, Zomato has acquired four companies, which are MenuMania (New Zealand), Lunchtime (Czech Republic), Obedovat (Slovakia), and Gastronauci (Poland). Next year, the company plans to expand to 14 countries in Europe, Southeast Asia, Australia, and the U.S.
[Header Illustration: Shutterstock]
