Success Of Zomato: From A Small Startup To India’s Biggest Food Delivery Platform

Have you ever experienced those sudden food cravings while working in the office which often distracts you from doing your important tasks? If yes, Zomato may be the first name that pops in your head to satisfy your tastebuds. Founded by two brilliant entrepreneurs, Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah, Zomato has become one of the most famous names in the food delivery sector. Though the success was not easy for the two men, they managed to pull it off with their well-thought-out business model. 

Let’s delve deeper and know more about the journey of Zomato founders.

How did it begin? 

It all started in 2008 when Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah, two graduates from IIT Delhi, were working in a company named Bain & Co in the capital city. During their stint in that firm, the two men came across many people waiting for a long time just to acquire a flash of the menu card. In that exact moment, the duo made up their minds to address this issue and that’s how they launched ‘Foodiebay’, now known as Zomato. 

In the beginning, Foodiebay was a platform that just scanned the menus of restaurants and posted them on the company’s private website. When the employees of Bain & Co came to know about this website, they soon started using it to save their time while ordering food. This, in turn, increased the traffic of the website and eventually, the founders decided to expand the platform to make it accessible for everyone. In a span of nine months, FoodieBay became the largest restaurant directory in Delhi NCR.  In 2010, Foodiebay was officially changed to what we call it today – ‘Zomato’ and there was no looking back for Deepinder and Pankaj since then.

Obstacles In The Road 

Though the brand saw a good start at the initial stage, in the year 2015, Zomato struggled with falling revenues and carried out  massive layoff. However, the company somehow managed to get something good out of that year by acquiring MaplePOS, a cloud-based point of sale product for restaurants developed by a group of techies from Delhi. From time to time, Zomato had faced numerous challenges that were “make or break” situations for the team. But the founders defied all the obstacles in the road and successfully achieved their goals. After a sluggish 2016, the company decided to restart its operations and eventually, everything came back on track. 

Success of Zomato

Have you ever wondered that despite so many obstacles in the journey, why is zomato so successful? Well, the answer lies in their business model. Zomato founders had a clear vision for their business, and they executed it very well. They gave great attention to their customers’ needs which quickly took their company to new heights. 

The main reason behind the success of Zomato was their focused growth, which meant there were no product diversions or premature international expansions after grabbing the eyeballs of users. Team’s sheer hard work and determination took them where they are today. Zomato’s recent valuation was recorded at $5.4 Billion on February 22, 2021, after the brand received the funding of $250 Million from companies like Kora, Fidelity, Tiger Global Management, and others.