Journalist Vir Sanghvi and hospitality veteran Sue Reitz today launched their online restaurant reservation platform EazyDiner that offers reviews and recommendations to users.
"We see the restaurant space and eating out space exploding in India. So we felt that there are opportunities in the area and what we are offering is a bouquet of services. At a simplest level, it is a restaurant reservation site," EazyDiner Co-Founder Vir Sanghvi told PTI.
The other aspect is that people are looking for guidance.
The platform offers reviews from India's best critics, an exclusive dining concierge service, Sanghvi said, adding that the startup venture has "a very eminent advisory panel".
The platform, which is currently available in Delhi and NCR, has had first round of funding of an undisclosed sum led by DSG Consumer Partners MD Deepak Shahdadpuri and ChrysCapital ex-MD Gulpreet Kohli.
The platform currently features over 8,000 restaurants, 200 bars, with 300 of the restaurants giving special deals for reservations made from it, the company said.
"The EazyDiner services will be launched in Mumbai by July 1, 2015," Sanghvi said, adding that this "would be followed by launch at Bengaluru by the end of the year".
"Then it would be Chennai and Kolkata. Our aim is to have an all India presence," he said.
Commenting on the launch, DSG Consumer Partners MD Deepak Shahdadpuri said: "EazyDiner is a platform that serves the needs of both the restaurants and diners...EazyDiner brings together everything a diner is looking for: curated content, top critic reviews, real time online reservations, a concierge service and a dining loyalty programme."
When asked how the company plans to raise funds for future expansion, Shahdadpuri said: "The company will also have a second round of funding by the end of this year to grow the business. DSG will invest again. We are also looking at like minded partners and who want to partner with us to build the business with us for next five years."
The company's advisory panel includes names such as Oberoi Group Joint MD and CEO Vikram Oberoi, Leela Palaces, Hotels & Resorts Co-Chairman and MD Dinesh Nair, Dabur India Vice Chairman Amit Burman, Massive Restaurants Founder and MD Zorawar Kalra among others.
