Zomato

Zomato
Type of business Private
Available in English, Turkish, Portuguese, Indonesian, Spanish, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Italian
Founded July 2008 (2008-07)
Headquarters Gurgaon, Haryana, India
Area served India, Australia, United States, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Lebanon, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Slovakia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Malaysia
Founder(s) Deepinder Goyal, Pankaj Chaddah[1]
CEO Deepinder Goyal
Key people
  • Deepak Gulati (COO)
  • Gunjan Patidar (CTO)

Industry Consumer Services
Services Restaurant Search & Discovery, Online Ordering, Table Reservations & Management, Whitelabel Apps, POS Systems
Employees 2000+
Slogan(s) Never have a bad meal
Website zomato.com
Alexa rank Increase 523 (March 2016)[2]
Advertising Yes
Registration Optional
Users 90 million visits monthly
Current status Online
Native client(s) on Windows Phone, iOS, watchOS, Android, Universal Windows Platform (Windows 10 Mobile, Windows 10)

Zomato is a restaurant search and discovery service founded in 2008 by Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah. It currently operates in 23 countries, including India, Australia, and United States.[3] It provides information and reviews on restaurants, including images of menus where the restaurant does not have its own website.

History

Countries where Zomato is available.

The service began as Foodiebay, and in November 2010 was renamed as Zomato.[4]

Between 2010-13, Zomato raised approximately US$16.7 million from Info Edge (India) giving them a 57.9% stake in Zomato.[5][6][7]

By 2011, Zomato launched in Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad and introduced smartphone applications.[8] With the introduction of [[.xxx]] domains in 2011, Zomato also launched zomato.xxx, a site dedicated to food porn.[9] The company also launched a print version of the website content, "Citibank Zomato Restaurant Guide", in collaboration with Citibank in May 2012, but it has since been discontinued.[10]

In September 2012, Zomato expanded overseas to the United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka,[11] Qatar,[12] the United Kingdom,[13] the Philippines, and South Africa.[14] In 2013, the company launched in New Zealand,[15] Turkey, Brazil, and Indonesia with its website and apps available in Turkish, Brazilian Portuguese, Indonesian, and English.[16] In November 2013, it raised an additional US$37 million from Sequoia Capital and Info Edge (India).[17]

In April 2014, Zomato launched its services in Portugal. In July, it made its first acquisition by buying Menu-mania for an undisclosed sum.[18] The company pursued other acquisitions such as Lunchtime.cz (from the Czech Republic) and Obedovat.sk (from Slovakia) for a combined US$3.25 million.[19]

In September, Zomato acquired Poland-based restaurant search service Gastronauci for an undisclosed sum.[20] In October, the firm launched its services in Canada.[21] Shortly after, in November, it extended its reach to Lebanon and Ireland as well.[22][23] In December, it acquired Italian restaurant search service Cibando.[24]

In November 2014, Zomato completed another round of funding of US$60 million at a post-money valuation of ~US$660 million. This round of funding was being led jointly by Info Edge and Vy Capital, with participation from Sequoia Capital.[25]

Zomato acquired Seattle-based food portal Urbanspoon for an undisclosed sum in January 2015.[26]

The acquisition marked the firm's entry into the United States, Canada and Australia, and brought it into direct competition with Yelp, Zagat and OpenTable. In the same month, the firm also acquired Mekanist in an all-cash deal.[27]

April 2015 saw another round of funding for Zomato, led by Info Edge, Vy Capital and Sequoia Capital, this time of US$50 million.[28] In September 2015, Zomato raised another US$60 million, led by Temasek, a Singapore government-owned investment company, along with Vy Capital.[29] Zomato's total funding to ~$225 million which comes from a close set of four investors: Info Edge, Sequoia India, Vy Capital, and Temasek Holdings.[30]

In April 2015, Zomato acquired Delhi based startup MapleGraph that built MaplePOS. Zomato renamed the MaplePOS product to Zomato Base.[31] In the same month, the firm also acquired NexTable, a US-based table reservation and restaurant management platform.[32]

In Feb 2017, Zomato in a company's blog had explained the concept of cloud kitchen. With its cloud kitchen, the company will help the restaurants to expand their presence without incurring any fixed costs.[33]

Zomato narrowed down its losses by 34% to ₹389 Cr for the financial year 2016-17, from Rs 590.1 Cr crore in the previous year 2015-16.[34][35]

Zomato security breaches

On 4 June 2015, an Indian security researcher hacked the Zomato website, gained access to information about 62.5 million users. Using the vulnerability, he was able to access personal data of users such as phone number, email address, and Instagram private photos using their Instagram access token. Zomato fixed the issue within 48 hours of it becoming apparent.[36] On 15 October 2015, Zomato changed business strategies from a Full-Stack market to an enterprise market. This led Zomato to fire 10% of its workforce, around 300 people.[37]

On 18 May 2017, India Zomato again became the target of hacking. A security blog called Hackread claimed over 17 million accounts had been breached. "The database includes emails and password hashes of Zomato users, while the price set for the whole package is $1,001.43 (Bitcoins 0.5587). The vendor also shared a trove of sample data to prove it is legit", Hackread's post said. Hackread claimed details of 17 million users had meanwhile been sold on the Dark Web. Zomato confirmed that names, email addresses and encrypted passwords were taken from its database. The company reassured affected customers that no payment information or credit card details were stolen.

Zomato said the security measures it uses ensure the stolen passwords can't be converted back into normal text, but it still urged users who use the same password on other services to change them. It also logged the affected users out of the app and reset their passwords.

"So far, it looks like an internal (human) security breach - some employee's development account got compromised", the company said in a blog post but later, when Zomato contacted the hacker, they discovered a loophole in their security. The hacker removed the stolen content from dark web asking for a healthy bug bounty programme.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "In Depth Interview with Pankaj Chaddah, Founder of Zomato". The Startup Magazine. 7 November 2013.
  2. ↑ "Zomato.com Site Infosite". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "Zomato acquires Urbanspoon, enters US market; restaurant coverage to touch a million". Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  4. ↑ "How Foodiebay became Zomato". businesstoday.in. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  5. ↑ "Info Edge to invest Rs 13.5cr in Zomato.com". moneycontrol.com. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  6. ↑ "Info Edge invests $2.3M more in Zomato, ups stake to 48.5%". techcircle.vccircle.com. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  7. ↑ "Zomato raises 4th round of funding". Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  8. ↑ "Zomato launches first local-search android application". indiainfoline.com. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  9. ↑ "People looking for food porn come to Zomato.xxx, says founder Deepinder Goyal". Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  10. ↑ "Zomato Launches Printed Food Guide; Monetization, International Expansion, WP7 App". medianama.com. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  11. ↑ "After UAE, Zomato expands into Sri Lanka; adds a Colombo section". techcircle.vccircle.com. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  12. ↑ "Zomato expands Middle Eastern presence with Doha launch". mideaster.com. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  13. ↑ "After UAE & Sri Lanka, Zomato expands into Europe; adds a London section". techcircle.vccircle.com. 9 January 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  14. ↑ "Zomato launches in South Africa » NextBigWhat". Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  15. ↑ "Update: Zomato Breaks Even In India; Expands To New Zealand". MediaNama.com. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  16. ↑ "Zomato tackles new languages for first time, takes restaurant listings to Indonesia, Turkey, Brazilwebsite=techinasia.com". Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  17. ↑ "Sequoia leads $37M funding round in Zomato". vccircle.com. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  18. ↑ "Zomato buys New Zealand's MenuMania for Rs 5 crore". Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  19. ↑ Pani, Priyanka. "Zomato acquires Lunchtime, Obedovat for $3.25 mn". Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  20. ↑ "Zomato acquires Poland's Gastronauci, fourth acquisition in three months". Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  21. ↑ "Zomato launches in Canada". MediaNama.com. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  22. ↑ "Zomato launches Lebanon section; expands into Middle East". exchange4media.com. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  23. ↑ "Zomato launches in Ireland, opens revenue source by making advertisement live on its app". Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  24. ↑ Verma, Shrutika (19 December 2014). "Zomato buys Italy's Cibando, to enter 15 more countries in 2015". livemint.com. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  25. ↑ "Zomato raises $60 million from Vy Capital, Info Edge & Sequoia". Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  26. ↑ Shu, Catherine. "Restaurant Discovery Site Zomato Buys IAC's Urbanspoon, Enters The U.S.". TechCrunch. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  27. ↑ "Zomato strikes 7th deal, buys Turkish firm". Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  28. ↑ "Zomato raises Rs 311 crore from existing investors". 11 April 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  29. ↑ "Zomato raises $60 mn from Temasek and Vy Capital". Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  30. ↑ "Zomato Raises $60 Million From Temasek and Vy Capital". NDTV Gadgets360.com. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  31. ↑ Ghoshal, Abhimanyu. "Zomato Buys MaplePOS to Offer Restaurant Reservations". Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  32. ↑ Lunden, Ingrid. "Zomato Buys NexTable To Rival OpenTable And Yelp In Reservations". TechCrunch. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  33. ↑ "Inside Zomato's Push Towards Cloud Kitchen - And The Road To Profitability? - Inc42 Media". inc42.com. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  34. ↑ "With revenue servings up at 81%, Zomato cuts losses by 34% in FY17". The Economic Times. June 29, 2017.
  35. ↑ Sharma, Disha (June 29, 2017). "Zomato losses shrink in FY17, revenue grows 81%". VCCircle.
  36. ↑ "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  37. ↑ "Shifting focus to what matters and what works". Zomato: Official Blog. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
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