Foodpanda delists many restaurants as it shifts focus to 'dark kitchens'

Asia’s largest food and grocery delivery platform, foodpanda has announced a long-term, multi-market partnership with Rebel Foods to enable restaurant partners and cloud kitchen operators to grow additional revenue streams, at little or no start-up costs.

Rebel Foods is the world’s largest internet restaurant company headquartered in India.

Through this partnership — for an initial five years — both companies will aim to launch more than 10 virtual brands in over 2,000 outlets across the region, making this the largest virtual brand partnership in Asia, and the first of its kind in the region at this scale.

 “foodpanda is always seeking new, innovative ways to change the way F&B businesses operate in a hyper-digitalised economy , we want to push our ecosystem further into the future,” said Pedram Assadi, COO, foodpanda.

As part of the partnership, Rebel Foods brings their culinary expertise, efficient SOPs and iconic ready-to-deploy brands that are easily customisable for local preferences in any region.

Meanwhile, foodpanda enables hundreds of thousands of restaurant partners and cloud kitchen operators to plug-and-play virtual brands into their current operations to grow additional revenue streams, at little to no start-up costs. Smaller SMEs and restaurant partners on the foodpanda platform can adopt new recipes and utilise their spare capacity to grow additional revenue streams while creating diversity in their menu offerings.

In the first phase of the partnership, which began in December 2019, Rebel Foods introduced four brands across six markets — Singapore, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Thailand, Hong Kong and the Philippines through the foodpanda network.

Orders for Rebel Foods’ brands on the foodpanda app on average grew 40% month-on-month in the past six months, with more than 200 outlets across the six markets signed up to add virtual brands to their existing food and beverage (F&B) offerings.

“Over the years, we have built some category leading brands in its current markets and a full-stack operating system which integrates culinary expertise, efficient SOPs and technological innovations together. We are glad to partner with foodpanda and scale our iconic brands with localized offerings across their network in Asia”, added Kallol Banerjee, Co-founder, Rebel Foods.

Globally, the online food delivery market is worth more than USD 35 billion annually, according to the ASEAN Post.

Mobile-based food delivery company Foodpanda on Thursday said it would stick with plans to expand its grocery offerings in Myanmar, despite the uncertainty from a military coup this week, reported Reuters.

Also Read: Foodpanda losses widen by 230% in FY19

"Overall, in 2021, we definitely have it our plans to launch in these four markets," said Abhishek Sahay, Regional Director, Foodpanda.

The brand is also planning to expand grocery delivery service in Laos, Cambodia and Japan.

“Pandamart operates small warehouses placed at key locations so that groceries could be delivered in under half an hour,” he added.

Owned by Delivery Hero, Foodpanda launched Pandamart in 2019 in Singapore.

May Interest: Foodpanda delists many restaurants as it shifts focus to 'dark kitchens'

As of January, it has a presence in 40 cities and eight markets in Asia including Thailand, Malaysia and Bangladesh.

Foodpanda, an online food delivery platform, has reported a 230% rise in its losses to Rs 756 crore in fiscal year 2019. In FY2017-18, Foodpanda, owned by ride-hailing major Ola, had registered loss of Rs 227.95 crore.

However, the company’s revenue from operations and other income rose 12.2% to Rs 81.77 crore in FY19 as compared to Rs 72.84 crore in the preceding fiscal.

Foodpanda said, “The online food ordering market is a multi-billion industry and provides ample opportunity of growth. We being an early player in the online food ordering and processing market have a deep understanding of the market dynamics and the revenue and profitability levers,”

Foodpanda’s management is revamping the entire process in order to focus on becoming leaders in food manufacturing and processing.

“To achieve this, we have built state-of-the-art kitchen infrastructure and launched various brands in different segments like shakes, khichdi, biryani, rice bowls and desserts. Our focus this year would be on further improving the customer experience and increasing our market share through a diverse and comprehensive product portfolio,” the company further stated.

Anchal Agarwal, CEO of Tofler, said that Foodpanda's burn rate of Rs 756 crore over Rs 82 crore of revenues is one of the highest among Indian startups.

“The significant increase in expenses from the last year is contributed by discounts provided and delivery charges incurred. It is interesting to note that the company has incurred delivery charges of Rs 267 crore compared to its revenues of Rs 82 crore. The discount expenses were to the tune of Rs 137 crore (that's nearly 1.5x of revenues),” she stated.

Agarwal further added, “Foodpanda's decision to build cloud kitchen brands makes sense in light of the surging expenses the company seems to have incurred in the previous year. They have also infused $100 million in the form of debt in the company.”

Food delivery Pros

Placing orders online proves beneficial to everyone. There are special discounts for new customers or discounts at various restaurants, always going on. A restaurant finder app can easily help you avail of such discounts. Brands and outlets have begun tying up with food delivery and hyperlocal mobile as getting listed on third-party Aggregators has proven very fruitful for them.

Food delivery Cons

There can also be a few obstacles that come in the way of food deliveries. Such startups need tremendous efficiency in order to overcome real-world challenges, meet customer expectations and turn profitable, all the while competing with the in-house delivery expenses of restaurants, which is not very large. Also, many restaurants still seem hesitant to get into this market due to their own valid reasons.

Foodpanda, owned by ride-hailing company Ola, is looking to launch physical outlets for its private label brands, The Great Khichdi Experiment, Lovemade and FLRT, and list them on the Zomato, Swiggy and Dunzo food delivery apps, along with its own platform.

Ola’s move is in line with its strategy to largely scale up Foodpanda as a cloud kitchen business rather than as a marketplace model, where it would compete head-on with larger rivals like Swiggy and Zomato.

An Ola spokesperson said, “As part of our ongoing business re-purposing initiatives, we are focused on building a portfolio of own food brands and curated food offerings through our fast expanding network of kitchens.”

“Many of these offerings are already available in all major cities through the Ola and Foodpanda apps,” he added.

In January, Foodpanda was cutting its focus from the marketplace and moving towards a cloud kitchen business as the cornerstone for growth.

Foodpanda, one of India's fastest growing food delivery companies, has expanded its delivery network to 100 cities across India. With this expansion, Foodpanda will now serve all major Tier II and III cities and towns in the country.

Last week, Foodpanda had launched its delivery network in Goa, making it the 100th city where Foodpanda’s delivery network went live. The launch of Foodapanda's on-ground delivery network in 100 cities across the country will be ensuring an improved and consistent food ordering experience for customers. 

Pranav Jivrajka, CEO of Foodpanda India, said, "We are extremely thrilled to bring Foodpanda to 100 cities and to every corner of the country in the months ahead! The Foodpanda network in terms of reach and size is now only second to parent Ola's network in India today for any online logistics platform and the synergies are here to see. Such rapid expansion has been possible with the deep learnings and insights from Ola's extensive presence across the country."

Presently, Foodpanda has over 60,000 plus restaurant partners on board across India. It is planning to double this number by January 2019.

Foodpanda India has launched its network in 30 additional cities across the country. The food delivery company is now present in 50 cities.

The delivery network of Foodpanda is now present in the cities like Jodhpur, Kota, Udaipur, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Dehradun, Allahabad, Varanasi, Surat, Vadodara, Aurangabad, Bhopal to name a few. 

The company is aiming to start operations in 100 cities by the end of November.

Pranay Jivrajka, CEO of Foodpanda India, said, "We are thrilled about our expansion to 50 cities across the country; becoming the only food delivery platform to be present in these many cities across India. While our network now covers all metropolitans and major tier 1 & 2 cities across the country, we are excited about introducing the superior food experience we bring, delivered to the doorsteps of millions of first-time customers in these un-served cities! We continue to expand rapidly and aim to be present in at least a 100 cities in a month's time as we remain focused on building India's largest and most preferred food experience platform."

"Foodpanda has also fully integrated onto the Ola platform, leveraging deep local insights around cities and customer preferences. We believe that this rapid geographical expansion will give us the opportunity to create a differentiated food experience for a billion Indians across the country," he further added.

Ola-owned food delivery firm Foodpanda has acquired Holachef, the Mumbai-based food-tech venture. The acquisition will enable Foodpanda's entry into the cloud kitchen network and will help it to go deeper into the food-tech ecosystem.

Pranay Jivrajka, CEO of Foodpanda India, said, "At Foodpanda, we are committed to building for unique local tastes and palate choices of the Indian consumer. Through the Ola platform, we also have an unmatched access to over 150 million customers and an understanding of their preferences. We have been able to bring an enhanced experience for millions of customers over the past year. We aim to build India's largest cloud kitchen network that will be a major step in further elevating the food experience for our customers." 

"I am delighted to welcome the Holachef team on board and look forward to their joining us in our mission of delivering superior food experiences to a billion Indians," he further stated.

Post acquisition, Foodpanda will take over the business of Holachef including its kitchens and equipment. It will also bring onboard Holachef's employees. The founders of Holachef are set to join Foodpanda's leadership team.

Saurabh Saxena, Co-founder of Holachef, said, "Our mission with Holachef is to serve incredible food experiences to customers through kitchens with the highest quality & hygiene standards. We are delighted to join hands with Foodpanda, to accelerate our mission. We are thrilled to be part of Foodpanda's and Ola's passionate team that is truly changing the food experience for a billion Indians."

Foodpanda, a food delivering platform, has taken 2,000 seats in co-working operator GoWork’s centre at Gurugram. 

Founded by Sanjeev Mahajan, Sudeep Singh and Nimit Mahajan in June 2017, GoWork has two co-working centres in Gurugram. These centres are spread over 8 lakh square feet with a capacity of 12,000 seats. 

Foodpanda has taken up 2,000 seats in GoWork's centre at Udyog Vihar in Gurugram under the 'built to suit' enterprise format. The company is aiming to have up to 4,000 seats.

GoWork said, "This is the highest number of seats that have been occupied by any organisation in a co-working space all over India." 

Sudeep Singh, Chief Evangelist and Co-founder, GoWork, said, "Foodpanda is one of the most recognized and trusted brands in the food-tech startup ecosystem, and having it on board as a client gives a robust boost to our brand's value proposition." 

"We have leased about 6,000 seats so far in last one year out of 12,000 seats. GoWork's spaces are equipped with diverse amenities such as gym, spa, food court, innovative and unique 'frustration/meditation' zones, in-house brewery, crèche, sleeping pods and a range of other facilities which cater perfectly to the preferences of the modern professional," he added. 

पिछले पांच हफ्तों में फूड पांडा ने अपने साथ साठ हजार डिलीवरी पार्टनर्स जोड़े हैं। इस ऑनलाइन फूड ऑर्डरिंग और डिलिवरिंग प्लेटफॉर्म की योजना अब अपने उपक्रम के विस्तार की है और 2020 तक इसकी योजना पांच लाख पार्टनर्स को अपने साथ जोड़ लेने की है।

ओला अधिकृत इस कंपनी की योजना अगले 2 महीने में साठ हजार और डिलीवरी पार्टनर्स को अपने साथ जोड़ लेने की है। फूड पांडा बड़े फूड टेक ज्वाइंट्स जैसे ज़ोमैटो और स्विगी के साथ प्रतिस्पर्धा में है।

पिछले कुछ हफ्तों में फूड पांडा ने 13 नए शहरों को जोड़कर अपने नेटवर्क को सात शहरों से बढ़ाया है। इस बढ़ोतरी में जयपुर, चंडीगढ़, कानपुर, लखनऊ, इंदौर, अहमदाबाद, नासिक और अन्य शामिल है। इस विस्तार का कारण कंपनी की गहरी पैठ बनाने की रणनीति है।

फूड पांडा के सीईओ प्रणय ज्यूरजका ने कहा, ‘’डिलीवरी पार्टनर्स हमारे मिशन का आधार हैं, जो कि हमारे उपभोक्ताओं तक, हमारे रेस्टोरेंट्स पार्टनर्स का बेहतरीन खाद्य अनुभव पहुंचाते हैं। फूड पांडा आने वाले दो सालों में डिलीवरी पार्टनर्स के लिए पांच लाख अवसर खड़े करने को प्रतिबद्ध है।‘’

कैब से अपनी शुरूआत करने वाले प्लेटफॉर्म ओला ने फूड पांडा को अपने एप में शामिल किया है, ताकि इसके उपभोक्ताओं को फूड ऑर्डरिंग संबंधी बेहतरीन अनुभव प्राप्त हो सके।

फूड पांडा का ओला एब के साथ पूर्णतः जुड़ना हमारे, करोड़ों भारतीयों तक बेहतरीन खाद्य अनुभव पहुंचाने के मिशन की तरफ एक बड़ा कदम है। अपनी तरह का ये पहला आउटरीच प्रोग्राम न केवल पहली बार इसे प्रयोग कर रहे उपभोक्ताओं को एक खूबसूरत अनुभव देगा, बल्कि ओला का प्रयोग कर रहे 150 मिलियन उपभोक्ताओं के लिए भी ये एक सतत् अनुभव उपलब्ध कराएगा।       

Foodpanda has onboarded 60,000 delivery partners in five weeks. The online food ordering and delivery platform eyes on expanding its delivery network to 5 lakh partners by 2020.

The Ola-owned company is further planning to add another 60,000 delivery partners across India in the next 2 months. Foodpanda is competing with foodtech giants like Zomato and Swiggy.

Over the past weeks, Foodpanda has expanded its network from seven cities, by adding 13 new cities, including, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Kanpur, Lucknow, Indore, Ahmedabad and Nashik among others. The expansion is part of the company's strategy to achieve deeper penetration.

Pranay Jivrajka, CEO of Foodpanda India, said, "Delivery partners are key to our mission of bringing the best food experience from our restaurant partners to our consumers. Foodpanda is committed to creating over 500,000 opportunities for delivery partners over the next couple of years." 

The cab-hailing platform Ola has also integrated Foodpanda in its app, in a bid to provide seamless food ordering experience to its users.

"Foodpanda's complete integration into the Ola app marks a huge step forward towards our mission of delivering superior food experiences to a billion Indians. This first of its kind scale and outreach will not just enable first-time online food ordering experience for millions, but also create a seamless and consistent experience for over 150 million Ola users," Jivrajka said. 

अपनी विस्तार नीति के चलते ऑनलाइन फूड ऑर्डरिंग एवं डिलीवरी प्लेटफॉर्म फूडपांडा ने अपने वितरण नेटवर्क का विस्तार 13 नए शहरों तक कर लिया है| इन शहरों में जयपुर, चंडीगढ़, कानपूर, लखनऊ, इंदौर,अहमदाबाद, नासिक, नागपुर, मैसूर, भुवनेश्वर, गुवाहाटी, विशाखापट्टनम और कोयम्बटूर शामिल है|

कंपनी पहले से ही सात शहरों, बेंगलुरु, मुंबई, नई दिल्ली, कोलकाता, चेन्नई, हैदराबाद और पुणे में मौजूद है|

कंपनी के सी. ई. ओ. प्रणय जिव्रजका ने कहा, "हम करोड़ों भारतीयों तक अपनी सेवाएं पहुंचाने के उद्देश्य से बहुत तीव्र गति से देश भर में विस्तार कार्य कर रहे हैं| 13 शहरों में 5000 डिलीवरी पार्टनर्स को कंपनी के प्लेटफॉर्म से जोड़ा गया है|

फूडपांडा का ओला प्लेटफॉर्म का हिस्सा होने के चलते, इन सभी शहरों में उपभोगताओं के बड़े समूहों को बेहतर अनुभव  देने के लिए, अपनी सेवाओं को समन्वित करने की संभावनाओं पर भी काम करेगा|

एक बेमिसाल वितरण अनुभव प्रदान करने के उद्देश्य को सार्थक कर पाने के लिए फूडपांडा इंडिया की अगले दो महीने में 60,000 डिलीवरी राइडर्स को हायर करने की योजना है|

As part of its expansion strategy across India, Online food ordering and delivery platform Foodpanda has expanded its delivery network to 13 new cities. These cities include Jaipur, Chandigarh, Kanpur, Lucknow, Indore, Ahmedabad, Nashik, Nagpur, Mysore, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Visakhapatnam and Coimbatore.

The company already has existence in seven cities including Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune.

Pranay Jivrajka, CEO of Foodpanda, said, "We are in the midst of a fast-paced nationwide expansion with an ambition to serve a billion Indians." 

5,000 delivery partners have been boarded to the company’s platform in these 13 cities.

"Being a part of the Ola platform, Foodpanda will explore opportunities to synergise its services and efforts of delivering superior food experiences to cater to a wider pool of customers across these cities," Jivrajka added. 

Foodpanda India is aiming to hire 60,000 delivery riders in the next two months to ensure seamless delivery experience.

Online food ordering and delivery platform Foodpanda India is planning to hire 60,000 delivery riders in the next two months to ensure seamless delivery experience.

In order to increase its order volume, the company has also launched a slew of discounts and offers across desserts, snacks and biryani. The delivery firm expects that the discount campaign will boost its order volume by over 10 times.

Pranay Jivrajka, CEO of Foodpanda India, said, “We understand that there is a constant need to scale up logistics to meet the growing needs of the business and to address that, we will be hiring 60,000 riders in a short span of 2 months. We also aim to establish strategic and long-term relationships with our partner restaurants and constantly add more restaurants to the platform.”

Earlier, Foodpanda, which was acquired by ride-hailing firm Ola in December 2017, was looking to add 25,000 delivery executives by mid-2019. But, it decided to advance and scale its resource sourcing and allocation given the steep demand in the market.

In order to fortify its online food business, Foodpanda is looking to leverage Ola's resources. The cab aggregator had committed to investing $200 million in Foodpanda's operations here after acquiring it last year in December.

The acquisition of Foodpanda came after more than 18 months of Ola shutting its own food delivery business Ola Cafe. Ola's re-entry to this segment is in the context of its rival UberEats, the food delivery business under Uber.

As it gears up to turnaround the business, Foodpanda's CEO, Pranay Jivrajka told news sources, they will launch a technology centre in Bengaluru later this week, which will be headed by Nitin Gupta who is moving from Ola.

Jivrajka said they plan to use Rs. 400 crore to strengthen the company's delivery networks and invest aggressively behind technology. Foodpanda competes with well-funded players like Zomato, which raised capital from Alibaba's affiliate Ant Financial and Swiggy, which is backed by South Africa's media and internet giant Naspers.

He said, “There is a lot of momentum post the acquisition and collaborations between Ola and the food aggregator are being planned. This includes sharing technology, data, knowledge, and human resources. We are looking forward to using Ola’s expertise in logistics and their huge user base of 100 million. We will also have access to their data and the back-end technology which is a huge advantage.”

Jivrajka added, “Foodpanda may look to penetrate Ola’s rider base by cross-selling on the platform. Ola may not be able to use it own fleet for deliveries as there are a few regulatory issues which will need be in place.”

Foodpanda also plans to use Ola’s data for better customer understanding which is where the technology center opening in Bengaluru will come into play. The tech center will extensively work on the product, integrate functions and introduce specialised domains of Machine Learning and data science.

It said, “One of such things would be to read the customer behaviour and then personalise experience for better and faster orders and deliveries. In terms of the markets, it will shift its focus to the top ten cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore where the delivery app is growing even though it has a fairly large presence in the smaller cities.”

Online food delivery marketplace Foodpanda has appointed Gautam Balijepalli as its head of strategy during a reshuffle in management. In his new role, Balijepalli will directly work with the CEO and leadership team to lay out a strategic direction in sync with the organisation’s business objectives.

This newly created role at Foodpanda is envisioned to synergise with the food tech ecosystem for a unified approach towards creating the best offerings for partner restaurants and consumers, the company said in a statement today.

The former venture capital investor at Ojas Ventures, Balijepalli  has invested in a number of companies and helped them scale through active board-level involvement. An alumnus of IIT Chennai and London Business School, Balijepalli joins the team with a strong entrepreneurial background having co-founded CartPerk Technologies. He has also been an investor and mentor to businesses, such as WarmOven, in the food space.

Pranay Jivrajka, CEO, Foodpanda India said, “With Gautam coming on board, we intend to bring pertinent changes in our strategic direction and create the right intervention points for the industry to innovate and grow. His professional experience and industry knowledge will be great sources of insights for the goals we have set out to achieve for restaurant partners, delivery riders and consumers. His addition to the team is a step towards building a strong food tech ecosystem in the country.”

Balijepalli said, “The food tech industry is rapidly changing globally. With 1.3 Billion people and only 2% of total food orders placed online, India is a market with massive potential. With that context, leveraging best practices will be our top priority to create value for all stakeholders, including consumers and restaurant partners. It is an exciting time for Foodpanda India and I look forward to working with Pranay and the team to drive significant value in this growing industry.”

The company further aims to grab investment opportunities through deep partnerships with key restaurants, cloud kitchens and expansion of its delivery network.

With recent fund allocation, Foodpanda said it is working on building a seamless experience for all its stakeholders partner restaurants, riders, and end consumers and creating a long-term business value.

Leading online food-delivery company Foodpanda has decided to invest Rs 400 crore to scale up technology, ensuring seamless experience for partner restaurants, users and riders across all the metros and other key cities in the country. A top company official said the company in addition plans to hire 2, 5000 delivery riders in the next 12 to 15 months.

It said, the company is focussing more on enhancing the inter-restaurant relationships. Foodpanda is planning to provide them with superior backend technology and provide assistance through their own delivery network.

The company said it is also looking for selected interventions for key partner restaurants to create a significant long term business value.

The investment further will focus on creating transparent, more efficient and timely procedures for delivery logistics. The investment would also entail partner and rider recognition programs for better performance.

Pranay Jivrajka, CEO, Foodpanda India said, “Creating a strong delivery ecosystem backed by technology is one of the most fundamental needs of the Indian food tech industry. We at Foodpanda recognise this and are investing INR 400 crore to further strengthen our delivery network across all the metros and other key cities.”

Jivrajka added, “We are also ramping up our last mile connect by hiring 25000 delivery riders. This is in-line with our go to market strategy to make a difference in the food ordering experience of our restaurant partners, customers and riders.”

Germany's Delivery Hero group will get around 1% shareholding in Ola as part of the acquisition of foodpanda India last month by the online cab aggregator.

Latest regulatory documents with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) peg the deal value at Rs 202 crore. As per the share purchase agreement, Ola bought foodpanda India operations for Rs 28 crore and Delivery Hero invested over Rs 174 crore in Ola. Documents sourced through the business research platform Paper.vc pointed out the transaction also involved the transportation firm in turn investing in to foodpanda India.

Ola has made a commitment of $200 million into foodpanda as part of its second attempt at the online food delivery business. The Berlin-based online food ordering and delivery marketplace Delivery Hero group had acquired foodpanda's India operations in 2016.

Ola is making a second entry into the online food delivery segment, even as its rival Uber is pushing to grab a share of the fast-growing market through UberEats.

Ride-hailing player Ola is making an entry into the food delivery space again, this time by acquiring Foodpanda India from Germany based Delivery Hero Group.

While the companies did not disclose the details of the deal size, sources have pegged the stock-based acquisition at under $50 million. The move will also see Ola invest another $200 million, as it takes on rival UberEats and incumbents like Zomato and Swiggy.

Saurabh Kochhar, former CEO of Foodpanda India has left the company and Pranay Jivrajka, founding partner at Ola has been appointed as the interim CEO of Foodpanda and will work with the existing leadership team at the company.

Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO of Ola said “Foodpanda has come to be a very efficient and profit-focused business over the last couple of years. Our commitment to invest $200 million in Foodpanda India will help the business be focused on growth by creating value for customers and partners. With Delivery Hero’s global leadership and Ola’s platform capabilities with unique local insights, this partnership is born out of strength.”

Ola cab drivers would pick up the food from the partner restaurants and deliver orders that came up when they were driving around the locality. This made a significant dent on the revenue that came from the regular cab rides.

According to analysts, Ola is focussed on diversifying its offerings by making an acquisition in the food delivery segment, after lessons learnt on starting up and failing with Ola Cafe in the past. The $200 million investment in Foodpanda is not a very high figure, so Ola has made a significant entry into acquiring a sizable portion of the food delivery space through this move. Through this deal it will easily take on UberEats, which is also failing to pick up traction for varied reasons, from customer stickiness to high restaurant commission charges at 30%.

Delivery Hero CEO, Niklas Ostberg said “The Delivery Hero Group believes the partnership with Ola, will enable the company to further consolidate markets where it strategically makes sense to collaborated with leading local players. We consider our stake in Ola as a very valuable asset, while Ola’s investment commitment in Foodpanda India is a clear and confident sign to the Indian market”.

Food ordering and delivery platform Swiggy has brought on board the management of gourmet food startup 48East as part of its strategy to broaden its senior leadership.

48East founders Joseph Cherian and Nabhojit Ghosh will join Swiggy to build the new supply business with Cherian taking the mantle of chief operating officer for the vertical which was launched last month with Swiggy Access the delivery only service in partnership with restaurants in new localities.

Swiggy has been steadily building its senior management team especially for the Swiggy Access with an aim to plug existing supply gaps in the marketplace, including enabling partner restaurants to expand their businesses as also for resolving consumer gaps in assortment availability.

Sriharsha Majety, CEO of Swiggy “With their deep understanding of the food space and an impressive track record of delivering a great consumer experience, the 48East team will equip Swiggy with additional capabilities. We are excited to work with them towards our vision of changing the way India eats”.

As the fight of the top spot in the food technology industry gets rougher, Swiggy is looking to beef up its lesser revenue accretive businesses such as the advertising business from 2018. The Bangalore-based company has seen its revenues jump a massive 6 times to Rs 133 crore in FY17 from Rs 20 crore last year as it has steadily been increasing order volumes across its platform to over 4 million per month.

However a 119% increase in other expenses to Rs 345 crore saw the pile of losses swell even further to Rs 205 crore – an almost 50% increase. The Naspers-backed company is looking to streamline its operational efficiencies through FY18 and a professional senior management will help hasten the process for Swiggy.

Zomato is about to introduce a speedy service feature in its next update for the customers who are ill. The feature, which right now is being tested, will cater to ill customers who’d need food without any delay, on an emergency basis. The announcement comes as Zomato says it crossed the three million monthly orders milestone and is looking to add new meaningful features to get customers to order from its app more frequently. "You will soon be able to tell us that the meal you just ordered is for someone who's a bit under the weather...and we will do everything in our power to expedite your delivery, just so that you can get your chicken clear soup as soon as possible," the company wrote in a blogpost on Thursday.

While the feature will be available for all users, the company will advise users to not misuse it by asking them to treat it like an ambulance. The update will also allow customers to instruct restaurants not to include cutlery (almost always made out of plastic) in their order, thereby, promoting conversation of environment.

Despite this strong growth, the company says its cost of customer acquisition is still negligible, with its restaurant discovery arm still continuing to draw in new customers. In terms of retention, Zomato says that 65 per cent of new users on its platform will order at least once again from it within 12 months.

While reduced competition in India's food-tech space has led to returning sensibilities in terms of discounting, players such as Swiggy, Zomato and FoodPanda still have some way to go before they can turn profitable. For now, the fear is that global giants Uber and Google that have entered the space could kick off another price war. 

Online food ordering and delivery firm, Foodpanda has announced expansion of their delivery service to restaurants across major cities. The brand said that it will provide third party logistics services to its restaurant base across major cities, including Delhi, Mumbai and Gurgaon. The delivery service has been named as Dash.

The partner restaurants can avail offerings wherein all orders would be fulfilled by the brand's delivery riders and would also include another option where restaurants can take up customised service on a need to need basis.

In the initial phase of the program, the brand has onboarded more than 500 partner restaurants and the number is expected to reach around 1500 in the next three months. The restaurants would be charged on a per order basis

Saurabh Kochhar, CEO, Foodpanda India said, "We have rigorously invested into the technology to make the delivery experience seamless for the users. Now with our new delivery product offering, we intend to be significant support system for our partners by easing hassle of delivery for them and extend best-in-class service levels to more customers; furthering our resolve to change the way India eats!"

Kunal Suri, COO, Foodpanda India said, "The new business partnerships with the restaurants are aimed to provide better services and to further expand our delivery network across the country. With technology as the backbone and relentless focus on operations, we have achieved excellent two way optimization of our resources. We are currently able to deliver orders within 35 mins on average, which we further plan to improve on. With Dash we plan to extend this benefit to our restaurant partners thereby strengthening the delivery ecosystem across the nation."

Online food delivery platfrom, Foodpanda, has signed up bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassador. The company aims to regain the market share it has lost to competitors such as Zomato and Swiggy.

The deal has been signed at a time when Foodpanda’s parent company, Delivery Hero, is planning to spend a major chunk of the $431 million (Rs 2,800 crore) funding it received from South African Internet investor, Naspers. The online food delivery startup is looking to compete aggressively on technology and delivery with the bigger rivals.

A top executive from Foodpanda, said, “Foodpanda is looking to gain bigger traction in the bigger food game and delivery business."

In December, Delivery Hero acquired Foodpanda from Rocket Internet, which owned a stake in the German online food delivery platform as well. The deal was done after the Indian operations reported losses. 

Saurabh Kochhar, Chief Executive, Foodpanda India, said, “We are constantly looking to strengthen and enhance our food ordering and delivery experience." 

Online food delivery platform, Foodpanda has announced that its parent company, Delivery Hero, has raised $431.45 million (around Rs 3,000 crore) from South African internet investor, Naspers.

In December, Delivery Hero, a German online food delivery platform, acquired Foodpanda from Rocket Internet.

The money raised from Naspers will help Foodpanda beef up on its technology and delivery, a key to getting back to growth it lost to rivals such as Swiggy and Zomato.

Saurabh Kochhar, CEO, Foodpanda India, said, "We are constantly looking to strengthen and enhance our food ordering and delivery experience. We recently launched the India app and have made significant investments in the technology and delivery ecosystem. This funding will help further our goals in making the foodpanda experience impeccable, for each of our customers."

By backing Foodpanda and its India arm, Naspers is deepening its play in the country.

Bob van Dijk, CEO, Naspers, said, "Food ordering and delivery presents an attractive opportunity for us. It is a large, underpenetrated, and growing market with potential for success across a broad range of geographies that Naspers knows well. Delivery Hero has already achieved significant traction in some markets, but we believe that the vast majority of high-growth markets are at the beginning of the opportunity cycle."

foodpanda, one of India's largest online food ordering platform has kickstarted the festive season with the exclusive launch of Pizza Hut's Triple Treat Box.

Available only through online ordering, the Triple Treat Box would come loaded with choicest Medium Pan pizzas and sides in an exciting festive packaging.

The special pack can be ordered online across India. Going by the wave of demonetisation in the country, customers would be able to order this assortment through both mediums of payment- online and COD.

Gagan Arora, CMO, foodpanda said, "We are thrilled to be the exclusive partner for the launch of triple treat box by Pizza Hut. We always strive to bring in exclusive product offerings for our customers that help us enhance our services and boost customer loyalty and retention. This partnership is another step in strengthening our brand position as the largest food ordering network in the country and we are more than happy to have Pizza Hut, the world's largest Pizza company on board with us for this new product launch."

Prashant Gaur, CMO, Pizza Hut India said, "We are pleased to have formed this partnership with foodpanda. The Triple Treat Box is a special treat for our customers who are gearing up for Christmas and New Year's eve. Our customers can enjoy Pizza Hut's Triple Treat Box which is a delight this festive season and will be up for sale exclusively on foodpanda and pizzahut.co.in."

foodpanda has witnessed approximately 800 percent growth in revenues in FY 15-16. The company earned a revenue of 37.81 crores in FY 15-16 compared to 4.7 crores in FY 14-15. The company has seen a 40-50 percent spike in the order numbers during the demonetisation phase which is further strengthened the brand presence for the company.

Wendy's, one of the world's largest burger chains, rolls out its new star menu with some Gravylicious Rice Bowls and Delicious Desserts across restaurants.

The new appetizing rice bowl offerings are available in both Vegetarian and Non Vegetarian. The meal consists of a big, juicy bowl of Basmati rice cooked in a special spice combination of Cardamom, Cloves and Cinnamon served with rich masala gravy. It is topped with whole chopped cutlets, fresh tomatoes and onion rings with spice-rubbed baby potatoes and a garnish of cilantro.

The delectable new range of desserts includes the Rich Chocolate Brownie, Apple Pie and Masala Cake. The delicious deserts are served with a generous dollop of Wendy's famous Frosty.

Jasper Reid, Chief Executive, Wendy's India said, "With the rice bowls and new desserts we are even more of an all-day, every day restaurant. A menu for all times and occasions in a casual dining restaurant set-up but at the same price of a regular fast food joint. This is what we call QSR Plus+."

In order to make the brand more accessible, consumers can order the Wendy's menu online through Zomato, Swiggy and Food Panda.

The Wendy's system includes more than 6,500 franchise and Company restaurants in the United States and 28 countries and U.S. territories worldwide.

Foodpanda, a food ordering firm backed up by Rocket Internet, is gearing up to ramp up its last-mile deliveries to the customers’ door step. As per Saurabh Kochhar, Chief Executive, Foodpanda, The company is partnering with e-commerce focused logistics company Ecom Express to facilitate last-mile deliveries to the consumer’s doorstep using its own fleet of delivery executives.

One of the leaders of the online food ordering business, Foodpanda also held initial talks with Swiggy but the pact is yet to be signed by both the firm, confirming the partnership, sources close to the development revealed. However, an email sent to TA Krishnan, Co-Founder and Chief Executive, Ecom Express, didn’t elicit any response. Even the officials of Swiggy declined to comment on the development.

Kocchar commented that a pilot will be launched in September in Delhi and Gurgaon. The company plans to expand the services to Hyderabad, Bangalore and Pune if the pilot becomes a success. Since the project is in pilot mode, it will be too early to project revenue. But the collaboration is a win-win for both Foodpanda and Ecom Express. Food will always be our priority and our primary business. Such initiatives are aimed to improve the efficiency of the business across the lean times during the day as well. Ecom Express is likely to pay the food delivery firms a fee on every packet delivered. 

Foodpanda, online food ordering and delivery firm expects India to be among its top three markets globally by fiscal 2019, even as it rubbished the reports of the company exiting the country, reported PTI.

"We are growing very fast in India and will be in the top three markets globally for the company by FY19. India is a very strong market for us," said Saurabh Kochhar, Foodpanda India CEO.

The local unit of the Berlin-headquartered company is the market leader in Indian food ordering industry, he added. The top markets for the company are Russia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, India and Malaysia.

When asked about the reports that the company was looking to exit from the country, Kochhar said, "We have no plans to exit from the Indian market. We are best placed to grow and consolidate our leadership in the Indian market."

According to Kochhar, during the last one year the company has seen 10 times growth in orders. "So we are looking to expand."

Foodpanda is eyeing profitability in India by FY19 as it continues to focus on technological innovations combined with adjustments to its business model.

Presently, the company is in 40 countries and has 12,000 restaurant partners across over 200 cities in India with over 2,000 employees.

Rocket Internet-backed Foodpanda is desperately searching for a buyer for its troubled India operations at a lowly price tag of $10-15 million, multiple sources familiar with the development, reported TNN.

The Samwer brothers-led Rocket Internet's interest in its Indian portfolio has been waning with most of its flagship firms, including FabFurnish and PrintVenue, being put on the block.

"Foodpanda has held talks with its competitors in India, who have been pitched with a sale value of $10-15 million," a source said.

Despite the low valuation, the food ordering platform has not found a buyer yet, signalling that it may decide to shut India operations soon.

"Both Zomato and Swiggy have been approached for a buyout, besides one larger horizontal company. But Rocket is yet to garner keen interest from possible suitors for Foodpanda," another source said.

When contacted, a spokesperson of Rocket Internet told, "We don't comment from Rocket's side to rumours about Foodpanda."

Last year, Foodpanda raised more than $300 million from the Berlin-based Samwer brothers and Goldman Sachs for its global business. That's when it invested heavily in the Indian market, becoming one of the largest players in the online food ordering segment. In order to ward off rivals Zomato and the likes of Swiggy and TinyOwl, Foodpanda acquired TastyKhana and Just Eat in India. But it has since been on a downhill slide.

Reports of an alleged fraud and systematic discrepancies in Foodpanda's operations emerged last year. The company then lay off 300 people as the overall food delivery market hit a rough patch.

Foodpanda India, which is run by Pisces eServices, reported a loss of Rs 36 crore in March 2015 over revenue of close to Rs 5 crore, according to data from the Registrar of Companies (RoC) at the ministry of corporate affairs. .

Foodpanda, online food ordering platform has tied up with Hyderabad-based Paradise, the largest Biryani house in South India. Started in 1953 as a modest cafe, Paradise now has nine outlets in Hyderabad and three in Bangalore.

This partnership will enable customers to now order Paradise Biryani on-line apart from other cuisines prepared by them. It is the first time that Paradise has entered the e-commerce space.

"We are extremely happy to announce our partnership with Paradise. We are working hard to ensure that we partner with restaurants that offer our customers with a smooth and seamless order processing and a great delivery experience. With this tie-up our customers can now order Paradise's range of cuisines at their homes and offices," said Saurabh Kochhar CEO of foodpanda.

Sameer Bhasin, Paradise COO said their association will enable the restaurant to reach out to a larger audience. "Also, foodpanda's focus on customers and service delivery has encouraged us to tread on the e-commerce path," he stated.

RI Bureau

foodpanda, India’s largest online food ordering platform proposes to associate with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a subsidiary of the Indian Railways that handles the catering, tourism and online ticketing operations of the Indian railways.

The association will enable consumers to order meals of their choice through foodpanda’s aggregator model, and allow them to order from a wide variety of cuisine options.

To ensure that food reaches consumers in the best condition, foodpanda will deploy its own delivery fleet to fulfil all deliveries.

Speaking about the association, foodpanda CEO Saurabh Kochhar, Said, “Foodpanda is an innovative business model which caters to an important consumer need. Our association with IRCTC will be an offering which addresses a huge consumer need prevailing for years. For long, consumers had limited food options to choose from while travelling with Indian railways but the newly launched e-catering service by IRCTC (approved by Ministry of Railways) is set to change the way Indians eat while travelling. We are excited to begin action with the Delhi station by December and are looking forward to extending this offering to other stations like Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Chennai in due course of time.”

The pilot of this proposed association is being planned to be launched at the New Delhi Railway station and after successful roll out in the metro city, the service will be extended to more cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Chennai in due course of time.

he customers will have the choice to order meals at-least 2 hours in advance of the travel. The delivery will be aligned to the train arrival time at the station and consumers can pay for the order in advance online or make on the spot cash payment as per their convenience.

Robin Kalita, Director, Catering Services, IRCTC, “At IRCTC, it has been our endeavour to extend best possible services to our passengers. Food forms a very important part of the travel experience and IRCTC takes immense care to offer healthy and hygienic food to its travellers on-board. With progressing times, we aim to offer wider choices to our consumers and are extremely thankful to foodpanda to have offered partnership with us. We are happy that we will be able to offer wider food choices to our consumers with this association and once our pilot project is successful, we will extend the service to more locations.”

The Delhi high court has directed the Delhi government to investigate the charges regarding a complaint filed by two law students alleging that food aggregator Food Panda was levying an inflated Value Added Tax on unsuspecting customers using its services.

In his order, Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw has given the Department of Trade and Taxes three weeks to act on the complaint, while telling it to keep the court abreast of probe results.

The department was told to take action in three months if the allegations were found to be true.

“The company had not received any notification about the Delhi High Court ordering a probe into alleged inflation of food bills by the company. There is no notification that we have received regarding this,” said Saurabh Kochhar, CEO, foodpanda India.

Final year law students Pranav Jain and Aroon Menon, through their representative, former union minister and senior lawyer P Chidambaram, had informed the court that having come across several cases of customers paying excess taxes applicable to eateries and online food portals, they had designed a website called http:www.kitnatax.com to help them calculate the exact amount payable for a meal in a restaurant or delivered to their doorsteps.

Their petition explained that "over the course of time and usage of the website and application (app), it was discovered that numerous customers of Food Panda website or app were being charged taxes that were wrongly calculated leading to customer paying more to FP than was actually required as per law."

Chidambaram, along with advocate Naman Joshi, told the court that his clients' findings were corroborated when on ordering food on two occasions from two different eateries via the website's app, they realised that the VAT on both the occasions had been wrongly worked out. Instead of calculating the tax as a percentage of the sub-total, it had been determined on an amount that included the sub-total and the service tax.

"The same is in clear violation of provisions of Delhi Value Added Tax Act 2004 and leads to a cascading effect," the petition explained, pointing out that a service element already taxed by the central government was being re-taxed by Food Panda.

While the difference between the amount paid as tax and the amount actually payable was miniscule, "such amounts become significant when there are tens of thousands of such transactions on a daily basis," Chidambaram told the court.

The students maintained that they had complained about the matter to Food Panda. But when their pleas elicited no response, they had decided to approach the court.

Speaking to TOI, Joshi claimed consumers are totally unaware of how much tax is payable on ordered food and it is likely that many diners end up paying inflated amounts.This practice, he said, is probably not restricted to Food Panda, which only happened to be the first entity to be found out.

foodpanda, the food ordering platform on Monday has announced the launch of a new corporate programme for corporate meals.

The programme is targeted at companies offering to pay for meals of employees in the office.

"We are excited to roll out the new product, which is a more convenient management of orders for both companies and employees," said Saurabh Kochhar, CEO foodpanda India, and CBO foodpanda global.

It allows companies to manage and control budget set for employees by setting allowances, order frequencies, dates and times.

It also allows companies to set maximum order values according to the meal time. It also offers detailed ordering reports and monthly invoices.

The service is available to corporate customers in India, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Paytm, India’s largest mobile commerce platform, announces biggest ever Online Food Festival from 9th to 11th October 2015.

The festival will offer widest selection of cuisines, exciting offers to customers who order from over 20,000 restaurants and chefs spread over 100+ cities in India through multiple online and offline food partners of Paytm's mobile wallet. Paytm expects to triple the traction for its food category during the festival period.

Speaking on the festival, Kiran Vasireddy, Sr Vice President Business said, “We are thrilled to present our first Online Food Festival this October. By offering widest variety of cuisine along with exceptional deals and discounts to our user base, our larger objective is to generate greater awareness and traction for food ordering in India. We wish to make transactions in this space cashless and help consumers discover how convenient, efficient, engaging and rewarding it is to order grub with a few clicks!”

Paytm has tied up with leading Indian online food ordering platforms such as Foodpanda, Dominos, Zomato, Swiggy, Faasos, Tiny Owl and Holachef along with Offline QSR chains such as Pizza Hut, Costa Coffee and Vaango to make this festival truly attractive for consumers.

FoodPanda is revoking registrations of over 500 restaurants every month as it aims to stabilise operations hit by frenetic growth and upheaval in top management, reported by ET.

The company has been under fire for alleged booking of fake orders by restaurants on its network, even as its Berlin-based parent is actively looking to divest its stake said people.

"It would be an anomaly to say our database is 100 percent clean now. We are 99 percent clean," said Saurabh Kochhar, CEO of FoodPanda, who took charge in January this year, following the acquisition of TastyKhana in November 2014.

Since then, Kochhar claims the company has doubled the number of restaurants on its platform to 12,000. "There are always 1% of vendors, sellers, restaurants and drivers in ecommerce industry who try and game the system," he said. Kochhar further said that the "investors are solidly behind the company".

FoodPanda was under fire for irregularities in operations at some restaurants on its platform. The issues raised include misusing discount offers and creating fake orders. The problem, according to people aware of the developments, was caused when restaurants were listed without physical verification. "For ecommerce businesses in India it's very important to verify a listed vendor in person," said one of the sources.

Kochhar claims to have now installed systems which detect IP address and location of restaurants if they try to book their own orders. "We first counsel and warn them, if they repeat the behaviour, we ban them," he said.

Foodpanda has also set up a quarterly audit to check anomalies. Kochhar said that he deactivates anywhere from 500 to 1,000 restaurants a month as part of the clean-up drive.

Rohit Chadda, Foodpanda India Managing Director may step down from the online food-ordering company or take on a different role.

Backed by German investor Rocket Internet, this is the second shake-up in management level after Housing.com in last few weeks.

Chadda headed Foodpanda's India operations between January 2013 and March, when the company appointed Saurabh Kochhar, CEO, Printvenue the another Rocket Internet-backed firm Printvenue, as its CEO.

"We still do not have clarity on Rohit's resignation... We are discussing it internally right now," Kochhar told to a national daily.

However, when called Chadda on the same, he said, “I need a day or two time to disclose all the changes as it is too early to comment anything.”

Foodpanda, with presence in over 39 countries, faces increasing competition in India's food-ordering and delivery industry, which industry reports peg at about Rs 95,000 crore.

Chadda, an IIM-Calcutta and Merrill Lynch alumnus, established Foodpanda India with Amit Kohli in 2012. Kohli quit the venture in 2013 and is currently with billionaire Dilip Shanghvi-led Sun Pharmaceuticals as general manager global network strategy. It is unclear if Chadda will be allowed to vest his stock in the venture or whether Foodpanda will buy his stake if he resigns.

ZO Rooms, Uber and foodpanda have come together to provide a seamless and unmatched travel experience to its customers.

ZO Rooms, a chain of premium budget hotels, Uber, the cab service provider and foodpanda, the online restaurant delivery platform, has partnered together to bring a comfy experience to their customers.

Zo Rooms offers comfortable and reliable rooms across 13 cities with 150+ properties to choose from. The brand has been built to cater to the needs and tastes of the modern travellers, such as – free breakfast, good Wi-Fi etc.

Karun Arya, Communications Lead, South Asia and India, Uber, said, "Uber is all about providing seamless experiences at the push of a button. We are excited to partner with ZO Rooms and now Foodpanda to provide travellers unparalleled convenience on-the-go. Booking a comfortable room, getting their conveniently and ordering something delicious to eat has never been easier. Advanced smart technology is ensuring we complete the travel loop: Stay. Eat. Ride."

The motto of ZO is – guests aren’t customers, they are friends. ZO’s tech-fluency is also something that sets them apart from the rest. When you book via the ZO Rooms app, on check-in, you will receive 100 per cent ZO cashback. This is like getting a free stay!

Uber comes on board to provide you with comfy rides, across all major cities of the country. Uber is the cheapest AC ride in town.

The customers can download the Uber app, press a button and a comfortable ride will arrive at their location. Once you check-in into your ZO Room, you will receive a free ride up to Rs 500.

And, foodpanda- India's largest food ordering platform will not only connect the travellers with all over 12,000 restaurants nationally and delicious local joints of the city but also make sure the food is delivered to your room’s doorstep. At the time of check-in you will get up to 50 per cent off coupons.

“This is a strategic collaboration for us as the three have come together only to ensure that travelers have an amazing and relaxing experience, when away from home. As the service industry is continuously converging their focus towards rigorous customer experience, with this move the trio we're addressing a traveler’s primary concerns, i.e. stay, travel and food,” shared Saurabh Kochhar, MD, foodpanda.

This is a significant collaboration as the three have come together only to make sure that travellers have an amazing experience, when away from home. As the service industry’s focus is continuously moving towards rigorous customer experience, with this move the trio have covered a traveller’s planning concerns, i.e. stay, travel and food. All that will be left now is to actually concentrate on the City.

Abhishek Shivhare, Director, Strategic Partnerships, ZO Rooms, added, "With our brand Zostel, the focus has always been on customer experience and now we are trying to replicate that same wow factor with ZO Rooms. We are extremely excited about this three way strategic collaboration as it has all the ingredients to ensure that customers have a delightful time when they travel. Technology is ensuring that travelers can now Stay, eat and ride at a click of a button"

To avail the ‘must-not-miss’ opportunity download the ZO Rooms app and use coupon code ZOTRAVEL.

Ola earlier known as Ola Cabs has marked its entry into the food delivery space with the launch of ‘Ola Café’.

The Taxi aggregator is initially launching its food delivery service in Mumbai, with plans to expand to Delhi, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru.

Ola Cafe will bring the best of food, handpicked especially for the customers from top rated restaurants nearby. And the order will be delivered in less than 20 minutes, said Ola.

The customers can place the order via Ola apps during Lunch (12 PM to 3PM), Snacks (3 PM to 7 PM) and Dinner (7 PM to 11PM).

The customers in Mumbai can order the foods at Powai, Bandra West, Andheri West, Lower Parel, Nariman Point, Vashi, Borivalli West, Santacruz & Juhu.

Ola has also tied up with selected restaurants in the launch city to deliver the food in selected regions.

Earlier this month, the company acquired Bangalore-based TaxiForSure for $200 million (Rs 1,240 crore) in a cash and stock deal.

Having raised $210 million in Series D round of funding led by Japan’s SoftBank, it is also in talks to raise $400 million (around Rs 2,500 crore) from Russian investment firm DST Global and other existing investors, according to various media reports.

Zomato, the restaurant discovery and food ordering website is opening subsidiary companies in over a dozen countries even before it launches operations in markets where it aims to gain a headstart.

The Gurgaon-based company has opened "on paper" companies in Mexico, Sweden, Germany, Finland and Norway complete with a bank account and other legal requirements, as it hastens global expansion to compete with Germany's Foodpanda which is present across 40 countries.

"A ready 'company' makes our entry into that market easier either by organic or inorganic means. Opening a bank account for a company is a difficult process in many countries and takes several months, we have decided to smoothen our entry into major world markets in the next four years,” said Deepinder Goyal, Cofounder and CEO, Zomato.

The six year old company currently operates in 20 countries including India, Dubai, UK, Brazil, Canada, Australia, Turkey, Poland and New Zealand.

However, with on paper companies, Zomato's presence has crossed to over 40 countries in the world.

foodpanda, the online food delivery marketplace active in 40 countries across five continents, has secured another round of funding of USD 110 Million.

The sum comes from Rocket Internet AG, as well as other existing and new investors. Since its launch in 2012, the company has now raised more than USD 200 Million.

After acquiring key competitors this year in India, Mexico, Russia, Brazil, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Asia, the company will now further invest into product and technology, and continue focusing on customer service and loyalty for becoming the most convenient and most user friendly way of ordering food delivery or take-away.

“Over the last couple of months we have become the leading online food delivery marketplace across the most promising and fastest growing emerging markets. The new funding allows us to fully focus on user experience and customer service with the aim of completely disrupting the way people order food by establishing a real alternative to pizza flyers and phone calls,” said Ralf Wenzel, Co-Founder and CEO, foodpanda.

Rohit Chadda, MD and Co-Founder, foodpanda said, “We have seen excellent growth over the past year attracting new users from all corners of the country. This round of funding will allow us to scale up and strengthen the foodpanda brand across geographies. We are strongly rooted in the belief that ‘customer is king’ and will continue working harder to reinforce our status as the prime choice when it comes to online food ordering.”

foodpanda offers ways to order food via the mobile app or online. Globally, foodpanda partners with over 45,000 restaurants in 40 countries, being market leader in 32 of those countries.

Hellofood, together with its affiliated brands foodpanda and Delivery Club, one of the world’s leading food delivery marketplaces has acquired Brazilian food delivery competitor Entrega Delivery.

Through this deal, foodpanda further strengthens its position in Brazil, after taking over Brazilian food delivery services Peixe Urbano, Jánamesa and MegaMenu last year. The foodpanda/hellofood app and website is now offering access to over 2,000 restaurants in more than 30 cities across Brazil. Entrega Delivery will keep operating under its brand.

“We are excited to announce the acquisition of Entrega Delivery and its talented team, which will allow us to strengthen our presence in the strategic cities of Campinas and Belo Horizonte. This acquisition is in line with our strategy to be the top of mind for every customer, no matter where they are, when it comes to order food online”, said, Marcelo Ferreira, Co-Founder and MD, hellofood Brazil.

Hellofood launched its service in Brazil in mid 2013. Globally, the company is present in over 40 countries in Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

"We have worked very hard during the last three years, developing strategic alliances with the main players in the local food industry and building trust among our customers. That together with our working ethics and culture, helped us to become the leader of online food delivery in Campinas. With the experience, resources and technology of hellofood, we are ready to take the next big step in order to provide a world class service to Brazilian consumers," said Eduardo Penna, Founder and CEO, Entrega Delivery.

Entrega Delivery started operations in 2010 and operates in Campinas and Belo Horizonte, partnering with over 400 restaurants.