Zomato's Menu Expands: Acquires Lunchtime and Obedovat For $3.25 Million
Zomato's Menu Expands: Acquires Lunchtime and Obedovat For $3.25 Million
It's Round 3 for Zomato as the company has just made its third acquisition and expanded its presence into 15 nations, Zomato has proved that its appetite for expansion is considerable. Zomato Private Limited has acquired the Czech Republic firm Lunchtime.cz and Slovakian firm Obedovat.sk for around $3.25 million.
While the separate sums for the acquisitions are not known, according to Deal Curry, industry sources have pegged the amount at $2.2 million for Lunchtime and $1 million for Obedovat. The deal is the first one Zomato has made in eastern Europe. A further infusion of $2.5 million into operations in Czech Republic and Slovakia are expected in the coming months. The company also plans to take the complete headcount into 80 during the duration of the next 6 months.
The 2 companies have also formed common owners with Obedovat to form a stake in Lunchtime. Obedovat was founded in the year 2004. Its founders are the Creative Web Group. Meanwhile Lunchtime was set up in the year 2008 by Igor Treslin as well as Adam Kurzok.
Zomato had previously acquired rival firm MenuMania in New Zealand for an amount which was not disclosed. With this acquisition added, Zomato is set to conquer foreign shores. Acquisition is the key ingredient for the growth strategies Zomato is cooking.
The firm is looking to triple its revenue to around INR 1,000 million by next year. Their war chest is impressive as well. Zomato has received a funding of $37 million or INR 2,270 million last year by Sequoia Capital and principle shareholder Info Edge, the company will now multiply to about 22 nations across the world.
Zomato is now planning to step into the Canadian market. Following this, its focus will then shift to North America as well as Jordan, Vietnam, Kuwait, Ireland and Saudi Arabia. The company also has other new additions to its corporate menu. Coming up on the scene is a payments product which will enable users in Indian metro cities to pay restaurant food bills via a mobile app. Considering the growing mobile market in India, Zomato will cook up neat profits as it will charge restaurant owners around 2-3% for each bill payment through the app.
If these numbers are not impressive enough already, here's more food for thought. Zomato has raised $53 million in funds since its inception.
Deepinder Goyal, Founder cum CEO of Zomato has been quoted in a statement as saying "Together, Zomato, Lunchtime and Obedovat will be able to build the largest resource of restaurant information in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. We look forward to combining the best of both our business models to build an integrated product, which the users as well as restaurant businesses, will love once it is rolled out over the next few months. We are looking to infuse a further $2.5 million into our operations in the Czech Republic and Slovakia over the next couple of years.”
With a presence in over 15 countries across the globe, Zomato is one of the biggest restaurant discovery companies right now. With new acquisition and expansion plans on its menu, the company's appetite for growth is undiminished yet.
