Foodpanda appoints Gautam Balijepalli as strategy team head

Bengaluru based rapid food-delivery startup Swish has bagged USD 2 million seed funding round led by Accel, with participation from angel investors such as Abhiraj Bhal and Varun Khaitan (founders of Urban Company), former Swiggy Instamart head Karthik Gurumurthy and others. 

This funding will enable Swish to expand its operations and scale its unique rapid-delivery model across most areas of Bengaluru, followed by other Tier-1 cities.

“We realized that quick commerce, initially seen as a convenience, has quickly become indispensable as people seek faster solutions to their everyday needs. Despite advancements in other categories, food delivery times still often range from 30-60 minutes, which falls short of meeting the urgency that customers now expect, especially for their craving needs. Swish was born from our desire to meet this demand—not just for ourselves, but for everyone who values that level of convenience. We are extremely happy to have Accel onboard as partners to support our vision,” shared Aniket Shah, CEO and Co-founder, Swish.

India's quick commerce market is booming and projected to reach USD 40 billion by 2030. Founded in 2024 by Aniket Shah , Ujjwal Sukheja, and Saran S, Swish addresses a crucial gap in the food delivery sector by providing a hyperlocal service that caters to spontaneous cravings. Operating optimized and modified cloud kitchens—or "delight centers"—Swish began in HSR Layout, Bengaluru, and has quickly expanded to parts of Bellandur, and is expanding every week to other parts of the city. 

The startup’s end-to-end control over food preparation, packaging, and delivery enables it to ensure hot, fresh, and hygienic food reaches customers within 10 minutes. Swish’s innovative full-stack model and optimized processes allow it to maintain quality and efficiency while safely meeting rapid delivery commitments within a compact 1.5-2 km radius. 

“Customer expectations around delivery times have shifted with the rise of quick commerce. Swish is tackling this challenge with a new approach, rethinking the supply chain to bring the same ultra-fast experience to food delivery through their delight centers. Aniket, Ujjwal, and Saran are set to create significant impact for their customers as they scale Swish to more cities,” added Abhinav Chaturvedi, Partner at Accel.

By March 2025, Swish plans to expand to about 150 delight centers across major areas in Bengaluru, with plans to expand to other Tier-1 cities soon. 

Food delivery major Zomato on Wednesday announced that it is introducing Zomato For Enterprise (ZFE) for companies to solve food expense management. 

The introduction of ZFE comes after a week of its shutting down the 'Intercity Legends' service.

Legends offered iconic dishes from 10 cities to other parts of the country. The company had earlier put on hold the service and restarted it in July with a few tweaks.

"Excited to introduce Zomato for Enterprise (ZFE), a platform designed for companies to solve food expense management. A lot of Zomato orders placed by corporate employees are business-related and need to be reimbursed by the company. The reimbursement process is cumbersome and time-consuming,” shared Deepinder Goyal, CEO, Zomato in a post on X.

He also shared that over 100 top companies are already using ZFE, and their feedback has helped shape this initiative. 

"With ZFE, employees can simply bill their business orders directly to their employer, without having to pay. Companies can use ZFE to add employees, set budgets, define ordering rules and much more. ZFE adds convenience to your employees, while we take care of the rest - with complete transparency,” he added.
 

Antfin Singapore Holding on Tuesday divested a little over 2 per cent stake in online food delivery firm Zomato for Rs 4,771 crore through open market transactions.

Antfin Singapore Holding Pte is an arm of Ant Financial Group, while the latter is a part of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.

According to the bulk deal data available on the BSE, Antfin Singapore Holding sold 18,54,40,550 shares in two tranches, amounting to a 2.1 per cent stake in Gurugram-based Zomato.

The shares were disposed of in the price range of Rs 257.17-257.46 apiece, taking the transaction value to Rs 4,771.66 crore.

After the share sale, Antfin Singapore Holding's stake has been reduced to 2.14 per cent from 4.24 per cent.

Details of buyers of Zomato's shares could not be ascertained.

Shares of Zomato rose 0.27 per cent to close at Rs 263 apiece on the BSE.

In March this year, Antfin Singapore Holding pared a 2 per cent stake in Zomato for Rs 2,827 crore.

Earlier this month, food delivery aggregator Zomato reported a multifold jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 253 crore for the April-June quarter of 2024-25 compared to Rs 2 crore in the year-ago period.

The company's revenue from operations jumped more than 74 per cent to Rs 4,206 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal from Rs 2,416 crore in the April-June period of last year.

Its total expenses also rose to Rs 4,203 crore during the quarter under review, from Rs 2,612 crore a year ago.

The reporting segments for the group include the food ordering and delivery business, Hyperpure Supplies (B2B), its quick commerce offering Blinkit, the going out segment and all other residual segments.

In today's competitive food delivery landscape, standing out from the crowd is crucial for a restaurant's success. Swiggy, India's pioneering on-demand convenience platform has today launched a suite of off-app marketing solutions designed to elevate the presence and drive customer engagement for restaurant partners. 

This offering, accessible to partners PAN-India, aims to support restaurants to boost their online brand presence by leveraging social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

Ajit Panigarhi, AVP of Restaurant Marketing and Growth, at Swiggy said, “Restaurants today face immense competition and need more than just great food to attract customers. Our new set of marketing services helps brands grow their customer base by combining the reach and engagement of channels like influencer marketing, social media, and WhatsApp and the ability to acquire new users through the Swiggy platform. With this, we bring the combined power of social media and Swiggy even to the smallest of the Restaurant partners to solve for “restaurant growth” - a key problem statement for the restaurant partners.”

This initiative is part of Swiggy’s vision of creating a strong Restaurant Partner Ecosystem, providing support services and effective solutions to meet the challenges faced by the industry today.  Previously, Swiggy announced ‘Staffing Support’ an initiative to help partners hire ground staff at their set-ups.  Additionally, Licensing support was launched to help restaurants get new / renew licenses such as FSSAI, GST and Trademark. Swiggy also introduced SmartLinks, a feature that allows restaurants to generate tailored marketing links for their promotions, further driving traffic and engagement.

This initiative is now live across India. Interested restaurant partners can participate by accessing this service via the Restaurant Services icon on the Swiggy Owner app. 

Gurgaon-based food delivery platform Zomato has unveiled a new $458 million employee stock purchase plan.

According to Zomato's regulatory filing, which can be viewed through the National Stock Exchange, the board has received shareholder approval to grant 18,26,27,402 ESOP options under its new plan, increasing the entire ESOP pool to 31,07,80,714 options. 

The entire value of the ESOP pool is Rs 6,609 crore, or $796 million, while the newly added ESOPs are valued at Rs 3,800 crore, or $458 million. 

Zomato reached its all-time high share price of Rs 209.84 today after the ESOP approval. As a result, the company's overall market value has grown to Rs 1,84,060 crore, or $22.17 billion. 

In a separate statement, Zomato stated that it no longer intended to pursue the lending or credit business and that it had voluntarily withdrawn its application for a certificate of registration with the Reserve Bank of India to conduct the activity of an NBFC.

Zomato was sent a GST demand notice for Rs 9.5 crore earlier this week. The Gurugram-based company has now received two GST notices in as many months, after receiving an Rs 184 crore penalty notice in April of this year.

In FY24, the company had strong growth. Zomato's operational revenue increased from Rs 7,079 crore in FY22 to Rs 12,114 crore in FY24, a 71% annual increase. Additionally, the company's profits in FY24 were Rs 351 crore, compared to a loss of Rs 971 crore in FY23.

Zomato Ltd., the online food delivery platform, has been served with a Goods and Service Tax (GST) demand amounting to ₹9.45 crore by the Karnataka Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes (Audit) in a recent filing.

The state's tax authority has imposed a GST of ₹5,01,95,462 on Zomato, to which an additional interest amount of ₹3.93 crore has been applied, and a fine of ₹50.19 lakh has been levied, resulting in a final tax amount of ₹9.45 crore. This demand comes following an audit of Zomato's GST returns and accounts for the financial year 2019-20.

Zomato shares rose by 0.10 per cent to close at ₹200.35 on 28 June,  a slight increase from their previous high of ₹200.15 set earlier.

In response to the tax notice, Zomato expressed confidence in its case and intends to appeal the decision to the relevant authority. 

This isn't the first time Zomato has faced GST-related scrutiny. In 2021, the company also encountered a significant GST tax demand of ₹11.82 crore from the Centre's Additional Commissioner, Central Goods and Services Tax, Gurugram, which it also contested, citing a strong case.

In its ongoing quest to expand its range of services, the leading food technology company, Zomato has introduced a new platform designed specifically for its restaurant partners.

This platform is designed to assist restaurants with a variety of operational needs, including recruitment, FSSAI registrations, tax filings, and trademark applications. It is available to Zomato's restaurant partners through their respective restaurant partner or dining app.

The company has been testing this service for the last six months and reports that it has already assisted more than 3,200 restaurant partners, including well-known names such as Havmor, Dastaan-e-Dawat, Berry on Top, Nutri Bar, and Cheelizza.

“The restaurant services hub platform is only a step towards our vision of creating a full-stack solution for any restaurant owner looking to set up shop or scale their existing business,” Zomato Food Delivery CEO Rakesh Ranjan said in a statement.

Furthermore, Zomato plans to incorporate additional features such as point of sale integrations and hygiene inspections.

In terms of recruitment, Zomato has collaborated with several vendors, including Apna, WorkIndia, Shiftz, Rozgaar Inc, and Kaam.com. The recruitment services range from INR 299 to 5,250.

Meanwhile, for FSSAI registrations, trademark protection, and GST filings, Zomato has partnered with vendors such as SRV Taxcon, GoAuditz, Plans4U, among others.

Deepinder Goyal, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Zomato on Tuesday announced the launch of a "large fleet order", a first in India. 

The new fleet will handle group or party events for a gathering of up to 50 people. 

The feature will have "an all-electric fleet." 

"Today, we are excited to introduce India's first large order fleet, designed to handle all your large (group/party/event) orders with ease. This is an all-electric fleet, designed specifically to serve orders for a gathering of upto 50 people,” he shared on a post on X.

He added that earlier large orders were handled by multiple delivery partners and the customer experience was not what the company aspired for. 

"Such large orders were earlier served by multiple regular fleet delivery partners, and the customer experience wasn't what we really aspired for. These new vehicles should solve most of the problems our customers face while placing large orders on Zomato," pointed.

"Having said that, these vehicles are still 'work in progress', and we are in the process of adding important enhancements to them - like cooling compartments, and hot boxes with temperature control - to ensure everything arrives just the way you like," he further mentioned.

He also added that he loves building products and services that help them serve the communities better.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has joined hands with online food delivery platform Swiggy to deliver food at Bangalore, Bhubaneshwar, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada railway stations. 

The service is to begin from March 12, adding 59 other stations in next six months.

IRCTC is already in partnership with Zomato for food delivery across 63 stations on Indian Railways network.

“This partnership with Swiggy will bring more convenience and food options to our passengers, making their journeys more memorable,” shared Sanjay Kumar Jain, Chairman and Managing Director, IRCTC.

According to IRCTC, passengers travelling in reserved coaches can order food from Swiggy. The unreserved passengers have been excluded from this service as it requires a PNR number.

Passengers have to put PNR on the IRCTC app, then select the preferred station for food delivery, browse the list of restaurants on Swiggy, and choose a restaurant that is delivering at the specified location and time. The charges will be normal and competitive, mentioned Swiggy.

The food delivered to passengers will be packed in insulated Swiggy bags to keep the meal warm and fresh. Swiggy’s delivery partner would reach the selected platform minutes before delivery, hand over the food to the customer and mark the food delivered.

“The Indian Railways transports more than 8 billion passengers annually. If, during these rail journeys, which traverse across states and districts, one has the option to order meals to explore the culinary diversity of India, it would make the experience more convenient and enjoyable, and add to the overall vividness of the train travel,” added Rohit Kapoor, CEO, Food Marketplace, Swiggy.

Swiggy’s support agents will be trained in resolution process and cancellation policies as well.
 

Uber has joined hands with robotics firm Cartken and Japanese industrial titan Mitsubishi Electric to launch autonomous sidewalk robots to deliver Eats orders in parts of Tokyo starting March.

With this, Japan will become the first international market to have autonomous delivery available on the Uber Eats platform. 

Cartken’s Model C robots will be delivering the food and navigating the sidewalks of Tokyo, and the operations will be supervised by Mitsubishi Electric as part of the partnership.

Cartken’s Model C robots use AI and computer vision technologies to navigate their environments.

According to reports, Uber Eats and Cartken first partnered in parts of Miami in 2022, and expanded robot delivery to Fairfax, Virginia in 2023.

Shoji Tanaka, the senior general manager of the Advanced Application Development Center, Development Division at Mitsubishi Electric said in a statement that robot delivery services “is considered to be an effective countermeasure to the logistics crisis that will become more serious in the future.”

Tanaka also mentioned that Mitsubishi has been working with Cartken to “respond to such social issues.”

“We hope that this newly announced initiative will serve as a catalyst for the spread of robot delivery services in Japan,” he added.

Domino’s, one of India's largest food service brand, has announced that it has joined Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) Network. 

With this integration, Domino’s catalogue will be seen on all apps that a consumer is shopping from across a network that is rapidly developing, while seamlessly facilitating transactions. 

Customers in Delhi NCR can order Domino’s Pizza via ONDC, and other cities will be live soon.

“We are delighted to announce our partnership with the ONDC Network, marking a significant milestone and step forward for our brand in India. We aim to serve millions of customers who are looking to order food through the ONDC network,” shared Sameer Khetarpal, CEO & MD, Jubilant FoodWorks Limited.

This will enable Domino’s to expand its customer base by making its products available to buyers from all ONDC seller apps based on geographical proximity, paid promotions or through product or brand search. 

The move will help the brand grow its presence across the country and help achieve its mission expanding touchpoints and occasions for consumers to enjoy pizza.  

As an adopter of ONDC Protocol, Domino’s is proud to represent everything that is innovative in products and technology. The brand has already established its reputation as a market disruptor with its innovative range of products. By joining ONDC Network, Domino’s aims to create multiple consumer touchpoints through disruptive innovations. 

“Domino’s joining ONDC is a significant development with the potential to create ripple effects for the F&B category on Open Network. Their vast selection is now more accessible and represents a major expansion of choices for consumers nationwide. When a brand like Domino’s embraces the open protocols, we move closer to our vision of a truly interoperable ecommerce ecosystem that serves sellers and buyers everywhere without any filters,” added T Koshy, MD & CEO at ONDC.

India's tech stack is growing rapidly, and initiatives like ONDC Protocol are playing a crucial role in driving innovation and growth. Domino’s has already made a name for itself in the market with its innovative product portfolio. By coming onboard ONDC Network, the brand is well-positioned to take its products to new customers across the country. 
 

Swiggy, India's one of the leading on-demand convenience platform, is marking a significant milestone in its nationwide expansion. 
Coinciding with India's 75th Republic Day celebrations, Swiggy is now debuting its food delivery services in the island city of Agatti in Lakshadweep. 

As the first online food delivery platform to enter Lakshadweep, Swiggy will be introducing the convenience of food delivery to the locals while also ensuring tourists can experience food from the best local restaurants just the way they do back in their hometowns. 

A culinary paradise at your doorstep

For an island that is very attractive to tourists, Swiggy’s arrival opens new avenues for local businesses to thrive and for visitors to explore local flavours. Agatti, known for its delectable tuna and seafood delicacies, is set to become a culinary paradise at your fingertips with Swiggy. The island is dotted with lively beachside shacks that serve mouth-watering food, making it an unmatched destination for culinary enthusiasts. From partnering with island's local favourites to bringing the Lakshwadeep’s delectable seafood, Swiggy promises a seamless food ordering experience for islanders and tourists alike. 

“Swiggy has consistently strived to deliver unmatched convenience to its users. This expansion marks a significant milestone for us, as we become the first online food delivery service to make a foray in Lakshadweep. We are excited to partner with local restaurants and support them in expanding their businesses, while also creating income opportunities for the local youth,” shared Sidharth Bhakoo, National Business Head, Food Marketplace, Swiggy.

Beyond its culinary delights, Agatti Island exudes the warmth of its friendly locals and is celebrated as a prime destination for scuba enthusiasts for an immersive experience. Acknowledging the unique ecological landscape of Lakshadweep, Swiggy has taken a conscious step towards eco-friendly practices in the region ensuring all deliveries are made only using bicycles. This initiative enables efficient and timely delivery while also preserving the ecological balance of the region. 

Celebrating the launch

First-time Swiggy users in Agatti can savour a special launch offer of 50% discount up to INR 100 and free delivery on first orders.
Expressing his delight, Fazal Rahman, Swiggy Restaurant Partner and Head of City Hotel Lakshadweep, said, “We are thrilled to team up with Swiggy as they launch in Lakshadweep. This partnership is a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase the unique flavours of our island to a broader consumers. With Swiggy's expansion, we are looking forward to reaching more customers, tourists, increasing our sales, and gaining national recognition for our culinary offerings than ever before.”

Mohammed Hamlersha, Swiggy Restaurant Partner and Head of AFC Lakshadweep, said,We are excited to welcome a culinary revolution as Swiggy launches in Agatti Island, bringing a feast of flavors to the doorsteps. I am sure it is going to elevate our delivery experience with the convenience of Swiggy – where every bite is a celebration!

With a phased expansion across key islands among the 36 islands that make up Lakshadweep, Swiggy aims to empower local culinary talents and enrich experiences for residents and visitors alike.

Japanese tech-giant SoftBank’s venture capital fund SVF Growth, Singapore, is planning to sell 1.1% stake in Indian food delivery firm Zomato for 10.24 billion rupees ($123.24 million).

According to the reports, SVF Growth will sell the stake at an offer price of 109.4 rupees to 111.65 rupees per share, a 2% discount to its current market price at the lower end, the report added.

In August, SoftBank’s Vision Fund sold a 1.17% stake in Zomato in a deal valued at 9.47 billion rupees at 94.7 rupees apiece in bulk deals.

Similarly, private equity firm Tiger Global, also sold its remaining 11.24 billion rupees stake in the company after cutting 2.34% stake last year.

Zomato shares have gained 88.3% so far this year and closed 1.4% lower on Thursday.

A majority of Zomato shares are owned by just three venture capital investors, namely, Softbank, Sequoia, and Tiger Global.

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) has partnered with Zomato to offer a broader array of food options for rail travelers through its E-Catering segment.

“This is to inform that in view of widening the range of options available to rail passengers for ordering food of their choice under IRCTC’s E- Catering segment, IRCTC has tied up with M/s. Zomato Limited for supply and delivery of preordered meals through IRCTC’s E-catering portal as a Proof of Concept (PoC) in the first phase at five Railway stations i.e. New Delhi, Prayagraj, Kanpur, Lucknow & Varanasi," shared IRCTC in a statement. 

As part of this collaboration, IRCTC has initiated a Proof of Concept (PoC) at five prominent railway stations: New Delhi, Prayagraj, Kanpur, Lucknow, and Varanasi. 

Under this PoC, passengers can conveniently order and receive preordered meals via the IRCTC E-Catering portal with the assistance of Zomato.

This strategic alliance is set to provide rail passengers with more choices and convenience when it comes to their culinary preferences, making their travel experience more enjoyable and comfortable.
 

On-demand convenience platform Swiggy has launched the “Learning Station”, an advanced digital learning academy to support restaurant partner growth. 

Seamlessly integrated into the Swiggy partner app, Learning Station provides a wide variety of courses tailored to support restaurant partners in their journey towards success. 

“The Learning Station is a big step in our goal to help our restaurant partners succeed. At Swiggy, we're all about making our partners' experiences better and helping them grow. The Learning Station is a way for us to provide valuable resources and education to empower our partners. We're fully committed to giving our partners the best support and opportunities to succeed,” shared Swapnil Bajpai, Head of Supply at Swiggy.

The content is curated to meet the specific learning needs of restaurant partners at different stages of their engagement with Swiggy. It delivers short, simple, engaging, and easy-to-understand content in audio-visual formats. This content focuses on utilizing tech tools, leveraging data for business growth, and mastering various aspects of restaurant operations.

Courses cover essential topics such as refining menus to match changing preferences, making the most of effective advertising strategies, using discounts strategically to engage customers, and gaining valuable insights into steering restaurant businesses towards continuous growth. 

The Learning Station is accessible to all the 3,00,000 restaurant partners. Aligning with its foundational values of curiosity and perpetual learning, Swiggy's launch of the Learning Station reflects its commitment to fostering restaurant partners' progress through learning. 

Food delivery platform Zomato has started the process of liquidating its wholly-owned subsidiary in Portugal – Zomato Media Portugal, Unipessoal Lda (ZM Portugal), as per BSE filings.

The Gurgaon-based platform that exited all of its international businesses in 2021 including; Australia, New Zealand, Jordan, Ireland and Indonesia.

As per reports, Zomato decided to shut down international businesses as they do not contribute to its revenues, following its listing on the exchanges.

“As disclosed in our red herring prospectus dated July 6, 2021, and prospectus dated July 19, 2021, ZM Portugal does not have any active business operations. It may be further noted that ZM Portugal is not a material subsidiary of the company and the dissolution of ZM Portugal will not affect the turnover/revenue of the company,” read the filing.

The net worth of ZM Portugal was Rs 1.2 crore, it added.

In Nov 2022, Zomato announced that it is discontinuing food delivery service through its app in the UAE and has sold its business to Kuwait-based food-delivery startup Talabat in 2019 for $172 million, and was providing services to Talabat through its app.
 

Swiggy, India’s leading on-demand convenience platform today announced the second milestone in its committed two-year ESOP liquidity Program. 

As part of this planned 2-year ESOP liquidity program, Swiggy employees will have the option to receive liquidity totalling up to $50 million against their ESOPs. 

This event will also see eligible employees from Dineout which Swiggy acquired last year participate. 

Swiggy, which announced turning EBITDA positive in its food delivery business as of March 2023 successfully integrated Dineout and strengthened its position in Q-commerce with Instamart. 

“Two years ago, Swiggy announced a one-of-its-kind ESOP program to enable consistent wealth creation for employees through two distinct liquidity events in 2022 and 2023,” said Girish Menon, Head of HR at Swiggy by adding that our team is Swiggy’s most valuable asset and we are happy that macroeconomic conditions notwithstanding, we’re able to keep our commitment of sharing Swiggy’s success and growth through these wealth creation opportunities.

Swiggy joins a handful of companies this year that have been able to exercise ESOP liquidity programs despite tough macroeconomic conditions. This is Swiggy’s fourth liquidity event since 2018, also making it one of the very few Indian start-ups to consistently enable wealth creation for its employees.

Bengaluru-based Swiggy, has introduced network expansion insights, a data-driven dashboard that empowers partner restaurants to make informed decisions for their network expansion. 

“The success of our restaurant partners is the key to our platform’s growth.  We’ve developed an innovative tool that gives our restaurant partners access to important data and helps them to strategically choose the ideal locations for their outlets. This empowers them to optimize their chances of success by bridging the gaps in demand and supply for specific cuisines on our platform,” shared Rohit Kapoor, CEO of Swiggy.

The dashboard provides restaurants with valuable insights derived from Swiggy’s extensive platform data, empowering them to make informed decisions when selecting the ideal location for their next outlet. 

Choosing the right location is paramount for the success of any restaurant. A distance of a few kilometers can make or break an outlet’s success. Understanding this challenge, Swiggy has developed a powerful Network Expansion dashboard to help restaurants with this decision. 

Restaurant partners gain access to a user-friendly interface where they can specify their preferred cuisine, price range, and geography of interest.  Whether it’s a specific city or multiple cities from across the country, the dashboard generates a comprehensive list of potential expansion locations ranked by their viability and potential for success. 

Over 100 Swiggy partners have already used the Network Expansion Insights dashboard and have seen a quicker uptick in demand in the first few weeks of launch vis-a-vis their other outlets. 

The dashboard doesn't just look at current customer demand but also considers areas where there is a gap between supply and demand. By bridging this demand and supply gap, Swiggy maximizes the chances of success for restaurants even further. Additionally, the dashboard identifies opportunities by analyzing the demand from Swiggy customers for specific cuisines that are currently unfulfilled at this point.

Founded in 2014, Swiggy is India’s leading on-demand convenience platform with a vision to elevate the quality of life for the urban consumer by offering unparalleled convenience. It connects consumers to over 1,90,000 restaurant partners and stores in over 520 cities. 
 

Bengaluru-based food delivery platform Swiggy has experienced a significant increase in losses during the financial year (FY) 2023, said Dutch-listed tech investor Prosus in its annual report on Tuesday.

“As economies of scale unfold, our Food Delivery portfolio companies delivered strong growth. Total gross merchandise value (GMV) grew 18% (27%) YoY, translating into US$4.2bn or 40% (44%) growth in revenue,” shared Prosus in its report.

As a majority shareholder with 33 per cent in Swiggy, Prosus reported that its share of loss in Bengaluru-based Swiggy rose to $180 million in FY23, up from $100 million in FY22. This increase was attributed to investments in Instamart, Swiggy’s quick-commerce arm, which 'peaked' in the year.

Swiggy, however, stated that its peak investments in Instamart was behind the company.

Swiggy's losses for the entire FY23 amounted to approximately $545 million, representing an 80 per cent increase compared to around $300 million in FY22.

Similarly, Prosus disclosed that its share of revenue in Swiggy grew by 40 per cent to $297 million in FY23, indicating Swiggy's full-year revenue for FY23 to be around $900 million.

Prosus also pointed that Swiggy’s focus on reactivating users, increasing monthly frequency and improving user conversion as factors reflected in the company’s FY23 results.

Overall, the food delivery business for the investment firm grew and it cited growing importance of convenience in people’s daily lives as one of the main contributor.

“Grocery delivery offers an appealing consumer experience and is a natural adjacency to core restaurant food delivery. The group is currently exploring various 1p and 3p models to enhance the unit economics of these businesses. The segment’s grocery-delivery and quick-commerce businesses grew GMV by 18% (14%). Our three main food-delivery portfolio companies, iFood, Delivery Hero and Swiggy, continue to capitalise on these trends by building grocery-delivery businesses on their existing platforms,” the report added.

As per the report, Swiggy's gross merchandise value (GMV) only grew to $2.6 billion in FY23, up from $2.3 billion in FY22, representing a modest increase of approximately 13 per cent.

“We are confident that our food-delivery businesses will be significantly profitable and continue to offer long-term growth. Underscoring this confidence, we recently took full control of iFood for €1.5bn (about US$1.6bn) plus a contingent consideration of up to a maximum of €300m at a future date,” added the report further.

Mumbai-based Good Flippin' Burgers has raised $ 4 million in its latest Series A round of funding via Tanglin Venture Partners.

This cash infusion not only bolsters the company's financial resources for growth but also solidifies its ambitions as it continues its journey of becoming the most loved burger brand in India.

Good Flippin’ Burgers raised $1 million in last year and have grown 3X this past year.

Founded by Viren Dsilva, Sijo Mathew, and Sid Marchant, who left their corporate careers to pursue their dream of serving the perfect burger.

The burger brand is planning geographical expansion, reinforcing its supply chain, and further refining its dining and quick service models in the next 12 months.

Ashika Capital was a financial advisor to this round.

"We are thrilled to have secured this funding and garnered the support of respected investors. This investment is a significant milestone for us and will empower us to expand our operations, fortify our supply chain, and bring our delicious burgers to an even wider customer base,” shared Viren DSilva, Co-founder, Good Flippin' Burgers.

“Viren, Sid and Sijo are exceptional founders with extreme customer obsession and process orientation. They have built a strong brand in Good Flippin’ Burgers with extraordinary customer love. We are really impressed with their focus on supply chain capabilities which has enabled them to maintain highest level of quality as well as consistency across their store footprint. At Tanglin, we are extremely excited to be partnering with the team and look forward to working with them towards building an enduring business,” added Sankalp Gupta, Partner at Tanglin Venture Partners.

GOOD FLIPPIN’ BURGERS® was launched in 2019 in Mumbai and currently has a total of 23 outlets and rising across Mumbai and Delhi with a headcount of more than 295+ employees. With 16 stores across Mumbai, the brand has also made inroads in Delhi with 7 outlets.

Zomato has made key level changes at its food and grocery delivery platform by elevating Rakesh Ranjan, and Rinshul Chandra as chief executive officer and chief operating officer of food ordering and delivery vertical, respectively.

The company has also appointed Rishi Arora as the CEO of its B2B vertical Hyperpure, shared Zomato in a regulatory filing.

Zomato announced the appointments at a time when it had reported positive adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) excluding quick commerce for the first time at Rs 28 crore during January-March.

The company on Friday reported a 70% year-on-year jump in its operational revenue for the March-quarter to Rs 2,056 crore, and its net loss narrowed to Rs 187.6 crore in the quarter, compared to Rs 359.7 crore in the year-ago period.

“Rakesh, Rinshul and Rishi have been with Zomato/Blinkit for more than five years across various roles. We believe that a change of leadership every now and then with capable people at the helm brings new perspectives to the business enabling it to evolve faster,” shared the company by adding that such leadership changes are also great for people development, and we are confident that our people strategy will set up for success even decades from now.

While Ranjan was business head of new businesses at Zomato, Chandra was vice president of product at the company. Arora, meanwhile, has been with Blinkit, formerly known as Grofers, for almost nine years and held the position of senior vice president of operations before being elevated to cofounder of Blinkit in July last year.

These appointments come in the backdrop of a series of senior level exits at the company, including cofounders like Mohit Gupta and Gunjan Patidar, who was also its chief technology officer. Senior executives like head of new initiatives Rahul Ganjoo and Siddharth Jhawar, who was the head of Zomato’s intercity delivery, also quit last year.

Bengaluru-based food delivery platform Swiggy on Thursday shared that its food business has turned profitable as of March 2023.

“Swiggy’s food delivery business has turned profitable (After factoring in ALL corporate costs; excluding employee stock option costs). This is a milestone for food delivery globally, not just for us, as Swiggy has become one of the very few global food delivery platforms to achieve profitability in less than 9 years since its inception,” shared Sriharsha Majety, CEO & Co-Founder, Swiggy in a blogpost.

Majety also mentioned that at Swiggy their mission is to elevate the quality of life for urban consumers by offering unparalleled convenience.

“Starting off in 2014, food delivery was our first foray and core offering toward our mission. Back then, the on-demand food delivery experience was new and broken. While there were anywhere between 10-12 players trying to solve for it, the economics of the industry was constantly questioned, with many viewing it as an unviable business model. Swiggy pioneered a full-stack food tech offering with integrated consumer experience through complete visibility from ordering to delivery,” he wrote.

Over the next few years, the brand continue to invest in this space to lead category growth and reach the necessary scale and economic viability.

“Along the way, we have created multiple milestones and built for whitespaces in food delivery with offerings like Gourmet and Guiltfree. Last year, we acquired Dineout, enabling us to cater to our consumers for every food occasion, whether through delivery or dining out. Today, Dineout is fully integrated within Swiggy and is the leader in the dining out category with more than 21000+ restaurant partners across 34 cities,” added Majety.

He also mentioned that the brand has focused on building more delivery partner-forward initiatives like the Swiggy Skills Academy, on-demand and free ambulance service, and an enhanced insurance policy for their safety and wellbeing.

The brand expect to reach more such milestones in the coming quarters.

Swiggy, India’s leading on-demand delivery platform has expanded its premium food delivery service, Swiggy Gourmet.

With this expansion, Swiggy Gourmet is now available in 31 cities across India.

Introduced in earlier 2022 in Bangalore, Delhi, and Mumbai, the gourmet delivery service has since expanded to several other cities like Pune, Kolkata, Goa, Chandigarh, Surat, Vadodara, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, and Kochi.

“We are excited as we expand our Swiggy Gourmet to provide more premium experiences to consumers at their doorsteps. Our expansion reflects the strong demand for premium dining options and we are committed to partnering with more restaurants to provide unique and tempting offers exclusively available on our platform,” shared Rohit Kapoor, CEO, Food Marketplace, Swiggy.

Swiggy will additionally launch the service in 16 new cities including Dehradun, Pondicherry, Ludhiana, Udaipur, and more. Swiggy Gourmet expansion shows that the service has found resonance among consumers especially in smaller towns and cities across India.

The trend of ordering from fine-dining restaurants has risen significantly in recent years, and Swiggy has stepped up to cater to this niche market with Swiggy Gourmet. With more than 2000+ brands and 5000+ restaurants, Swiggy Gourmet has become a go-to destination for food enthusiasts seeking exclusive gourmet experiences delivered right to their doorstep.

UK-based food delivery company Deliveroo has started its first internship programme for graduating college students in India.

The six-month paid internship programme gives interns the opportunity to work at the innovative food-tech company's India Development Centre (IDC) located in Hyderabad, where they are given the opportunity to work closely with the core engineering teams focused on Restaurant tech, Consumer Tech, Delivery, Care & Trust, and Finance.

Students from Vasavi Engineering College majoring in Computer Science & Information Technology have been selected through a robust campus hiring programme that involved multiple rounds of interviews to assess their interpersonal, technical and prototyping skills.

Furthermore, given the rapid pace at which consumer-facing technology is evolving, the programme is also expected to provide fresh perspectives to the engineering teams that are solving critical challenges. This will put the students on an accelerated career path and give them a higher chance of being integrated into a corporate environment.  

“We have tailored this programme as an avenue for India's promising engineering talent to build on their academic nous with practical exposure to disruptive technology that happens at Deliveroo every day. Similar to our partnership with Vasavi Engineering College, we want to build long-term relationships with premier academic institutions in India, which will help us eventually create a deeper talent pool for IDC in the coming years,” shared Sashi Somavarapu, Vice President - Engineering and Country Head, Deliveroo India.

For the tenure of the programme, the interns will have a specialised learning plan with identified goals and collaboration opportunities. The company also has plans to expand the internship program beyond the Hyderabad region across India in the upcoming phases.

Deliveroo's IDC in India is the largest technology hub outside of the United Kingdom, where the company is headquartered and supports its primary engineering operations in its home country. 140 out of Deliveroo's 600 global engineering workforce is based out of this centre, and it serves as a core part of Deliveroo's central technology organisation having employees specialising in the field of analytics, platforms, automation, and machine learning.

Deliveroo's CEO Will Shu is making his first-ever visit to the Deliveroo India Development Centre (IDC) in Hyderabad.

The visit demonstrates the centre's important role in Deliveroo's global technology organisation and its vision to become the definitive global online food platform. 

The IDC, launched in March 2022, is Deliveroo's largest tech hub outside the United Kingdom and has since made significant progress on its multi-year plan to build a world-class engineering team in India.

The centre currently comprises 140 employees and is expected to exceed 200 by the end of 2023.

Deliveroo has also expanded beyond Hyderabad to access leading tech talent across other metros like Bangalore, Gurgaon, and Mumbai, through shared space partner (Cowrks). 

“I’m excited to see the success of Deliveroo's India Development Centre over the past year, which is a vital part of our global tech org. Technology enables us to continuously improve our consumer value proposition at a hyperlocal level, optimises the end-to-end order journey for all three sides of our marketplace, in real-time, and provides the infrastructure to scale our business efficiently,” shared Will Shu, CEO, and Founder, Deliveroo by adding that they look forward to strengthening their presence in India further in 2023 and to building a world-class team that drives their vision of being the definitive food company.

During his visit to India, CEO Will Shu met with various stakeholders, including K.T. Rama Rao, Minister of Information Technology, Municipal Administration and Urban Development, and Industries and Commerce, and Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary of the Industries & Commerce (I&C) and Information Technology (IT) Departments of the Government of Telangana, and Gareth Wynn Owen, British Deputy High Commissioner Hyderabad to discuss IDC’s milestones and achievements over the past year, priorities for 2023 and growth plans. 

The IDC provides multi-disciplinary support to Deliveroo's global technology team in the UK, embedding themselves within UK-based teams in the global Care & Trust, Financial Systems, Consumer, Delivery, Grocery, Platform, Restaurants, and Product Engineering teams. Working together on integrated projects, the IDC tech team works on a wide range of exciting tech solutions, including enhancing the customer experience, improving navigation of the grocery experience, improving promotions targeting and developing Deliveroo’s advertising platform.  

The Centre will focus on hiring the right talent, hiring and developing those in leadership positions and diversify functions.

Academic partnerships is also a priority for IDC in 2023, and the company aims to attract a diverse mix of talents from leading universities across India. 

Deliveroo has made an impactful progress with its presence in India and plans to develop innovative products and systems that will deliver superior experiences for its millions of customers, 176,000 restaurants and grocery partners, and around 150,000 riders across 10 markets: Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Qatar, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and the United Kingdom.

Domino's Pizza India has made a big announcement that is set to change the game for quick-service restaurants (QSR) in Bengaluru. The pizza giant is now guaranteeing hot and fresh pizzas delivery within 20 minutes of ordering, making it the first QSR brand to achieve this feat in the city.

"At Domino's, we are committed to providing the best pizza-eating experience for our customers. Introducing the 20-minute delivery in Bengaluru is a testament to our dedication to excellence. By using analytics, insights, and technology, we are able to give our customers hotter, fresher, and tastier pizzas than ever before,” shared Sameer Khetarpal, CEO & Managing Director, Jubilant FoodWorks Limited.

Domino's has a proven track record of delivery prowess, having pioneered 30-minute delivery and established itself as a market leader in the QSR sector. The company has achieved this new benchmark by enhancing in-store process improvements, upgrading technology, and expanding its store network. All of these efforts have resulted in a more efficient overall delivery process without compromising the quality of the food or the safety of its delivery riders.

Domino's 20-minute delivery is available at 170 stores across Bengaluru.

The company is also committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of its delivery personnel by providing them with the necessary training and sensitization.

This new initiative is set to revolutionize the QSR industry in Bengaluru, enabling customers to enjoy their favourite pizzas hot, fresh, and within minutes of ordering.

Bengaluru-based food delivery platform Swiggy has announced that Mallika Srinivasan, Padma Shri awardee and Chairman and Managing Director of TAFE, Shailesh Haribhakti, Chairman of Shailesh Haribhakti & Associates, and Sahil Barua,  Managing Director and CEO at Delhivery will join the company’s Board as Directors.

“We’re very excited about bringing on Mallika Srinivasan, Shailesh Haribhakti, and Sahil Barua to Swiggy’s Board of Directors. They have very rich and diverse experiences in building sustainable businesses at scale. Getting these new and powerful perspectives and strengthening our governance will immensely benefit us as we march ahead in our mission to bring unparalleled convenience to consumers,” shared CEO and Co-founder of Swiggy, Sriharsha Majety.

“Swiggy is an enterprising and innovative company that has redefined customer convenience and impactfully altered lifestyles. I am pleased to join the Board as the company moves forward in pushing boundaries and redefining newer segments,” said Mallika Srinivasan, Chairman, and Managing Director of TAFE.

Shailesh Haribhakti, Chairman of Shailesh Haribhakti & Associates, said, “I am looking forward to being a part of the Swiggy board. As a young, privately held company, their focus on having the right discipline, governance, and expertise on the board makes me very optimistic about the company’s future, and its ability to bring its mission of delivering unparalleled convenience to users to life.”

Sahil Barua, Managing Director and CEO at Delhivery said, “Swiggy’s mission of creating value through convenience for its large ecosystem of consumers, delivery partners, restaurant partners, and sellers is truly ambitious and inspiring. I look forward to supporting the Swiggy management team in their quest to build a world-class business that serves millions of customers in their everyday needs.”

These are the first independent directors on Swiggy’s board and join current members:  Sriharsha Majety – CEO and Co-founder of Swiggy, Nandan Reddy, Co-founder of Swiggy,  Larry Illg, CEO of  Prosus Edtech and Food, Ashutosh Sharma, Head of Investments- India, Prosus Ventures, Sumer Juneja, Managing Partner, India and EMEA, SoftBank Investment Advisors and Anand Daniel, Partner at Accel.

Deepinder Goyal, the CEO of Zomato, on Monday shared in a Linkedin post that the company is planning to hire about 800 positions open across 5 roles.

These positions include growth managers, software development engineers, and even chiefs of staff to CEOs of Zomato, Hyperpure, and Blinkit.

“We have roughly 800 positions open across these five roles at Zomato. If you happen to known someone really good for any of these roles, please tag them on this thread,” he wrote.

Goyal also posted job openings for "generalist" and "product owner" positions on LinkedIn.

He wrote: "As a generalist at Zomato, you will collaborate closely with the leadership team. You will get the chance to develop and implement the main strategy for our food delivery company and eventually take over a role.

Based on routine performance evaluations, the food-tech platform fired 3 per cent of its 3,800 employees in November 2022. Swiggy, a competitor of Zomato, also laid off 380 workers last week as part of a corporate-wide restructure motivated by the sluggish development of the food delivery industry.

Gurgaon based food delivery platform Zomato on Monday shared that its Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Gunjan Patidar resigned from the post.

Patidar was one of the first few employees of Zomato and built the core tech systems for the company, shared the company in a regulatory filing.

"Over the last ten plus years, he also nurtured a stellar tech leadership team that is capable of taking on the mantle of leading the tech function going forward. His contribution to building Zomato has been invaluable," shared the statement.

It, however, did not disclose reasons for his resignation.

In November last year, another co-founder of the company, Mohit Gupta, had resigned. Gupta, who had joined Zomato four-and-half years back, was elevated to co-founder in 2020 from the position of CEO of its food delivery business.

Zomato had witnessed some top level exits last year, including those of Rahul Ganjoo, who was head of new initiatives, and Siddharth Jhawar, the erstwhile vice-president and head of Intercity, and co-founder Gaurav Gupta.

An IIT graduate, Patidar spent more than 14 years with the company in different roles.

Bengaluru-based food delivery platform Swiggy is reportedly firing over 250 employees this December.

The layoffs would happen across operations, technology, customer service, and supply chain verticals that would contribute to about 3-5% of its workforce.

During a recently finished town hall, Swiggy's head of human resources, Girish Menon, reportedly notified staff members about the performance-based exits. According to the source, the corporation has begun restructuring its teams.

Swiggy is just the most recent business to announce layoffs in the face of a challenging funding environment. Its competitor Zomato announced last month also announced that it will be firing 3% of its workers.

Earlier this week Swiggy also closed its cloud-kitchen brand The Bowl Company.

DoorDash has decided to cut jobs as a result of the sudden drop in demand and the skyrocketing costs. During the pandemic, the company hired a lot of people to help people who were stuck at home.

The online meal delivery service DoorDash announced it will be laying off roughly 1,250 employees, or 6% of its whole workforce, in order to deal with a downturn in demand.

The business hired a lot of people to handle the surge in demand brought on by the pandemic. However, the company is now dealing with skyrocketing prices as a result of the unexpected decline in demand from inflation-conscious customers.

"We did not manage the growth of our workforce with the discipline that we ought to have. That's my fault. As a result, operating costs increased rapidly, "Tony Xu, the company's chief executive, stated in a note to staff that was published on the website of the business.

DoorDash joins a series of multinational American companies that have fired thousands of workers recently as they prepare for a future economic slump, including Amazon.com Inc.

While Xu from DoorDash underlined that the company has been more resilient than other e-commerce businesses, he claimed doing so "wouldn't close the gap."

Homegrown burger brand Burgrill is on is now on a pan-India expansion spree - starting with 6 new dine-in outlets in the state of Gujarat.

The brand intends to open these within the next 4 months in Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat.

This will take the 6-year-old QSR startup with 40+ outlets, closer to its 100-store target by the end of FY 2023 and 65+ outlets by the end of FY 2022.

As per Shreh Madan, one of the three co-founders “we have a very diverse menu that caters to people with different preferences and taste buds. Unlike most other burger startups, our expansive vegetarian menu doesn’t just have aloo patties but also offers a spread from beetroot to spinach and mushroom - a variety that vegetarians seldom get. This USP, along with a 75% grilled and healthy menu, has made us a favourite among vegetarian travellers from Gujarat who visit our outlets in Delhi, Chandigarh etc.”

The outlets will also make the brand available on marketplaces like Zomato, Swiggy and via self-delivery using DotPe.

Staying in sync with the sensibilities and preferences of the Gujarat audience, most outlets in the region will have a 100% vegetarian menu. One of the key highlights of this menu is a purely plant-based vegetarian burger called ‘Green Meat Pounder’ - made with soy protein, chickpea protein and a blend of plant-based fibres that offer the same texture and mouthfeel as chicken but are 100% vegetarian. 

Food delivery platform Zomato in a disclosure to BSE filings shared that its deputy chief financial officer Nitin Savara has resigned and is moving to start his own venture.

The development comes a day after Zomato’s first annual general meeting. Zomato, however, in its filing said that Savara was not designated as key managerial personnel.

Savara has resigned as he is planning to start his own venture.
 

“Nitin Savara loves Zomato, and as much as I and Akshant (Goyal - CFO), tried to retain him with us for the last few weeks it didn’t work because Nitin is very excited about what he wants to build and there’s no one stopping him:),” shared Deepinder Goyal, CEO, Zomato on its Slack channel addressing to the company’s employee.

Goyal also mentioned that he would be the last person to stop anyone from starting up on their own. “We need more entrepreneurs in our country, not less,” he added.

Zomato said that the disclosure would not qualify as ‘material information and the company was making it voluntarily.

Savara joined Zomato in November last year from Ernst & Young, where he was a partner. During his stint at Zomato, Savara played an important role in the acquisition of quick commerce startup Blinkit for Rs 4,447 crore.

Cloud-kitchen operator Curefoods has announced the launch of its Curefoods Accelerator Programme Season 2 for the entrepreneurs who are going deep into the existing food systems and look forward to solving the future of food.

The brands and participants of the programme will get access to the capital and network of Curefoods, and support from an extensive expertise stack of the brand, in the fields of brand marketing and planning among others, to achieve growth and development in their entrepreneurial journey.

“The first season of the accelerator program gave us a good bunch of exciting brands and entrepreneurs to work with. This season will be a bigger and better round held for young brands, to give them a great opportunity to leverage our Research & Development, Distribution and Central operation strengths across all top cities of the country. I look forward to the Season 2 of the programme,” shared Gokul Kandhi, Chief Business Officer, Curefoods.

For the programme, Curefoods eagerly anticipates engaging with passionate companies and startups who have depth in their vision and believe in disrupting the food space.

The winner brand of the programme’s season 1 was Olio Pizza where the company saw impactful growth. The company’s product and brand, speak and reach out perfectly well to the young adult audience, which reflects how they have been growing every month.

The Curefoods Product Market Fit (PMF) criteria are defined depending on 3 aspects. The startup should be generating an annual revenue of INR 1.5 to 3 Crores. The amount of love the startup gets from its customers and the demand it is generating will also be evaluated. Lastly, the unit economics and operational efficiency of the company will also be considered. Companies having low last mile efforts and leak-proof logistics will be preferred over the others.

Once the company is part of the accelerator programme, the 10-day process to garner funding entails a complete audit of the company’s last 18 months’ P&L. There will also be a clean reconciliation of the revenue that was reported, invoiced, and collected. A detailed breakdown of the cost of goods sold (COGS) and the evaluation of the company’s operational complexity and its scale potential will be examined. With this overall company check. Lastly, based on the company’s future plans for the next 18 months, the required funds will be scaled.

Heaping plates of succulent meaty delicacies along with smoky vegetarian specialties, Nawabi Kababi enters Delhi.

Nawabi Kababi is the brainchild of two friends Harmail Singh Khattar and Hardik Aggarwal under the company Gurjyot Impex.

Speaking about the brand, Founders Harmail and Hardik said, “Nawabi Kababi has the essence of Purani Delhi. While researching our entire team tasted the best kebabs in Purani Dilli and perhaps the world. You will rarely find a place that delivers over 50 types of kebabs to your home with 100% compostable packaging”.

The menu at Nawabi Kababi is crowd-puller with melt-in-the mouth Shahi Mutton Galouti, Malaiwala Murgh, , Zafrani Chicken, Purani Delhi Mutton Seekh and Gilafi Mutton Seekh. Sparks fly from burning charcoal at the cloud kitchen, which turns the spiced meat into delicious offerings. A variety of delicious vegetarian options by the brand include – succulent Awadhi Galouti Kebab, Lucknowi Bharwan Aloo, Bharwa Khumb ( Mushroom), Punjabian da Paneer Tikka and an all-time-favourite Malai Wali Broccoli. There is also a range of curries and biryanis to choose from and all dishes are served with the freshest Green Chutney.

The cloud kitchen located in Lado Sarai delivers to Delhi NCR through their own website and Zomato and is operational from 1 PM to 11 PM except Tuesdays.

The cloud kitchen strictly adheres to FSSAI Norms and follows the American food safety standards.

In the foreseeable future, the brand plans to focus on opening several cloud kitchens in North India – Delhi NCR, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal. Simultaneously, the long term vision is to open physical outlets for Nawabi Kababi.

1441 Pizzeria, the brand that popularized the concept of Italian wood-fired pizza in India, has launched its 1st dine-in outlet, in Vashi.

This unique pizzeria is built on the inspiration of offering customers the essence of authentic Italian flavours.

Embarking on its new outlet launch, 1441 Pizzeria is geared up to give a wholesome dine-in experience to its customers.

“1441 Pizzeria’s dine-in restaurants have always been a must-experience, with our 1st Dine-in launch in Vashi, we are elated and look forward to welcoming our new customers. Our signature freshly stretched dough, homemade sauces, unlimited range of topping choices, and the flavour of a woodfired oven will bring you to taste-bud nirvana,” shared Vandini Gupta, Co-Founder at 1441 Pizzeria.

Curated to transport you to an authentic Italian experience, the interiors and its menu options will have you craving for nothing but more!

1441 Pizzeria specifically uses tomatoes and the most refined flour which are directly imported from Italy.

Create it in your own style with its most exciting ‘Make Your Own Pizza’ or opt for a widely popular and delicious ‘Vegan Pizzas’.

Customers can also order pizza from 1441 Pizzeria delivered to their doorstep via their official App/Website. They are also available on Zomato and Swiggy.

Zomato’s latest announcement on 10-minute food delivery has brought lots of questions to restaurateurs, chefs and even the customer’s mind who are looking forward to a wholesome meal when delivered online.

Till now, Domino’s in India has been regarded as the fasted delivery-run business that promised a 30-minuted delivery, starting from the time you have placed the order to the time it has been delivered.

Though, Zomato’s chief executive Deepinder Goyal has clarified in series of post on how this 10 minute delivery would work, and how it will be safe for the delivery partners as 30-minute delivery.

• 1)    10 minute delivery will be for specific nearby locations, popular and standardized menu.

• 2)    Delivery partners are not informed about promised delivery time.

• 3)    No penalties for late deliveries

• 4)    No incentives for on-time deliveries

• 5)    We are building new food stations to enable the 10-minute service for specific customer locations only.

Goyal also mentioned that 10 minute food delivery will be:

10/10 on food quality

10/10 on delivery partners safety

“We deeply care about how we do, what we do. So, the first thing we told ourselves when we thought about instant food delivery was ‘no compromises’. We narrowed down to these eight principles around which we are building Zomato instant,” added the company.

DoorDash Inc. has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire hospitality technology startup, Bbot.

The addition of Bbot's products and technology to the DoorDash platform offers merchants more solutions for their in-store and online channels, including in-store digital ordering and payments.

Together, Bbot and DoorDash will be able to better support the evolving needs of restaurateurs and other food and beverage venue operators.

"We're excited to bring our combined suite to an even wider selection of merchants across the hospitality space – including bars, hotels, and ghost kitchens – so these businesses can engage with more customers, increase their quality of service, and grow sales," said Tom Pickett, DoorDash's Chief Revenue Officer.

DoorDash provides merchants of all types with affordable tools to grow and run their businesses, whether those tools be third-party or first-party, in-store or online. With Bbot, DoorDash is expanding its suite of first-party Platform Services, which includes DoorDash Storefront, its commission-free online ordering solution, to address merchant demand for a more integrated and simplified software solution.

"Over the past few years, the hospitality industry has seen the benefits of growing their online channels as well as digitizing their in-store operations," said Steve Simoni, CEO of Bbot.

Bbot's in-store digital ordering solution allows merchants to increase sales while creating higher quality experiences for customers and staff.

Cloud kitchen brand Kitchens@ has partnered with ITC Sunfeast Baked Creations and ITC Master Chef Creations.

With this partnership ITC has marked its entry into the food service online space.

“We are proud to partner with one of the biggest conglomerates in the world. We started working with ITC on a pilot project and were successful in helping it achieve significant growth in a short time span. We are thrilled that they entrusted us to support their new age online play,” said Saurabh Jha, CEO of Kitchens@.

Kitchens@is a digital accelerator of power food brands providing end-to-end solutions to F&B businesses from asset light-cloud kitchens to a highly efficient last-mile delivery readiness.

This partnership will enable ITC Foods to enter food service play at a city scale while operating from several cloud kitchen locations across Bengaluru.

Kitchens@ will operate the day-to-day functions for ITC Foods, giving them ample bandwidth to focus on brand building, marketing, product development and quality systems.

It will also provide a comprehensive and efficient last mile readiness through its infrastructure, technology & procurement support, manpower& culinary operations support, and marketing aids assisted by and under the guidance of chefs from ITC.  

“Getting into online food service was an important decision for ITCand them choosing us as preferred partner is a testimony to our differentiated hygienic cloud kitchens and quality services. We look forward to a successful partnership at scale,” added Junaiz Kizhakkayil, Founder of Kitchens@.

Kitchens@ is currently associated with 80 domestic and international brands, including Mainland China, Empire, Chai Point, A2B, Domino's, Taco Bell, and Barbeque Nation and is present in 12 high-demand locations in Bengaluru.

With this launch, IBC is offering a safe and seamless snacking experience to Mumbaikars and Punekars.

Independence Brewing Company (IBC), one of India's premier craft breweries, is launching an online food delivery service.

The brand has taken this initiative after the successful launch of its craft beer home delivery service, which has gained tremendous responses so far.

"With lockdowns, weekend and night curfews imposed, going to a brewery for a couple of drinks and then heading home have been put on hold for a while. So, pushing the boundaries of hospitality and adhering to the utmost safety standards, we are ensuring that our customers remain safe while enjoying a memorable experience from the comfort of their own homes through our home delivery service,” shared Anirudh Khanna, Managing Director of Independence Brewing Company.

Consumers can now have access to IBC’s European cuisines from the Balewadi and Versova outlets to unwind from the daily work monotony.

The menu will include modern European dishes with global influences such as Grilled Cheese Sando, Rosemary Potato Wedges, Goan Chorizo, Fusilli Basil Pesto, and much more – all prepared by celebrity chef Viraf Patel.

Through this initiative, the brand has attempted to provide an amazing snacking experience to Punekars and Mumbaikars coupled with their favourite flavourful beers while staying and working from home.

Brewed meticulously by a team of highly competent brewers, the beers have their ingredients gathered from all over the world.

Customers can order food and beer directly from this https://independencebrewco.com.