Google floats food delivery, home services app in India
with firms such as Box8, Freshmenu and Faasos for food delivery and Urbanclap and Zimmber for home services.
Google confirmed the development, but did not divulge details about the services.
“We are constantly experimenting with ways to better serve our users in India. In this case, Aero makes everyday chores and ordering food easier by bringing together useful local services like ordering food or hiring a cleaner in one place,” a company spokesperson said in an email.
According to two people aware of the development, who spoke on the condition of ano nymity, Google has been exploring such partnerships for the past 8-10 months. The company had rolled out a pilot for its employees about three months ago.
Google will not deploy delivery executives or home services professionals of its own to service the orders. The partners will handle fulfilment of the services, while Google will charge them a commission.
Social networking giant Facebook Inc also launched a hyperlocal service in India last year. From plumbers to spas, and event planners to pet services, the services were listed at facebook com/services Mint reported in April last year.
Google’s entry into the food delivery and home services segments comes at a time when investments by venture capital firms in Indian startups have dropped. According to a report by KPMG and CB Insights, Indian startups raised $3.3 billion in 2016 across 859 deals, as against $8.2 billion across 890 deals the previous year.
Food delivery and home services have been particularly hit, with a number of cashstarved startups shutting shop. For instance, food delivery companies such as Dazo, Eatlo and Spoonjoy closed down after failing to raise funds as did home services firms such as Doormint and Taskbob.
Analysts say while Aero may not be a direct competitor to end-to-end service providers at this stage, it can threaten aggregators such as Zomato and Swiggy that aggregate restaurants and delivers on their behalf, in the long run. “If Google builds massive distribution, then the food delivery businesses will get impacted. However, it is a big question if the app strategy will work, because it usually integrates these services within Google search,” said Rutvik Doshi, director at the Indian arm of Inventus Capital Partners