Global online food delivery marketplace Foodpanda has acquired Pune-based competitor TastyKhana, which is funded by German-based Delivery Hero for an undisclosed amount.
Foodpanda.com, is a part of Rocket Internet, a global, multi-location online food ordering marketplace (which operates under Hellofood brand in some markets) with operations in 40 countries including India.
The acquisitions enable both companies to optimise their international growth strategy.
TastyKhana will remain an independent brand. Together, foodpanda and TastyKhana will partner with over 10,000 restaurants in India, covering over 173 cities. Last year, Tastykhana has earned revenues of Rs 10 crore.
Ralf Wenzel, co-founder and managing director of Foodpanda Group said, “The acquisitions allow us to extend our market leadership in India and improve our strong position in Mexico. Combined with our efforts in other important markets such as Russia, Brazil and South East Asia, where we already gained a leading position, we are best positioned to accelerate growth and become the ‘Amazon’ of food ordering in emerging markets.“
TastyKhana, started in 2007, has been one of the first food delivery portals in India founded by Shachin Bharadwaj and Sheldon D’souza. TastyKhana has partnered with more than 9,000 restaurants from cities across India.
“We are joining hands mainly to stay in this business for long-term. Foodpanda and Tastykhana are the only serious players in online food delivery category. So, it makes sense to come together to scale up our business. We want to make a strong position in India which is one of the biggest food delivery markets worldwide. The e-commerce business in India is growing faster in the categories like retail, electronics, food, travel and taxi services,” said Sachin Bharadwaj, CEO & founder, TastyKhana.
With this acquisition, the parent company will be able to focus on both emerging as well as developed markets.
In November 2011, TastyKhana signed a partnership with Delivery Hero. In 2013, Delivery Hero invested $5 million in TastyKhana and secured its requirement for technical know how and knowledge of the global business practices to boost the business.
At present. Foodpanda has a coverage of 3,500 restaurants across 30 cities in India. The online food delivery business is projected to be Rs 5,000 crore by 2017.
The other companies in the same category are JustEat.in, DeliveryChef.in, and Titbit.com. This segment has seen acquisition in the recent past. Last week AntFarm, a digital media and internet company announced the acquisition of Mumbai-based Meals on Wheels.
“Latin America holds a central role in our long-term strategy. With these acquisitions we further extend our leading position in a region with tremendous growth,” says Niklas Östberg, CEO of Delivery Hero Holding.
Meanwhile, globally FoodPanda and Rocket Internet have swaped acquisition in India, Mexico and South America.
