 "Harshvardhan Mandad, Co-founder & CEO, TinyOwl")
The main idea behind incubating a platform like TinyOwl was to create value for all stakeholders in the restaurant and food eco-system - restaurant owners, chains, indie suppliers and of course, the consumers. The restaurant owners benefit as they can target users based on location and preferences, making the app a potent marketing tool for them.
While we are still in nascent stage and are in the process of category creation, the rise of internet-first based restaurants (IFR) are helping platforms like us to shape the ecosystem.
We believe that the Internet first restaurant rage has just begun and the virtual kitchen format will change the idea of dining in.
With the growth rate in the food service industry being predicted at 2.5 %, this has opened doors to the expansion of the category.
They have changed the concept of QSR and are been relooked at by investors. The IFR will bring revival in the food service industry. We, the food aggregators have an opportunity not just to enhance the sector but also work together. By giving tech functionalities, the IFR can scale faster which will then open gates for more such restaurants. This will benefit the country’s ecosystem as a whole and the combination of two sectors will bring India at par with the international market.
In the international market, Munchery is on a path of success and raised $85 million in May. It was founded in San Francisco and is now live in four cities. It’s a part of food delivery startups that place a premium on locally sourced, meals cooked daily by the chefs and is delivered to one’s doorstep. Their business model is simple - end-to-end meal providers that focus on delivery. Using the app the consumers can place orders from daily changing menus.
Being the flavour of the season, internet-first based restaurants are growing at a very good pace. There were more than 30 internet-first based restaurants which were launched in the 2014 itself, based on different models. MK Dabbawala, ZAZA Box, Insta Khana are couple of them which are growing and are working on various models.
The rise of internet-first based restaurants (IFR) are key to shape the ecosystem, which is why we are keenly interested in the growth of the same. TinyOwl concentrates on having a model which is not just beneficial to the consumers but also the restaurants and helps the ecosystem of the country.
