Food on the Go
Deepinder Goel 29 Pankaj Chaddah 26 CO-FOUNDERS Zomato.com, Delhi
Craving for a cheesy pizza but don’t know where to order from? IIT- Delhi graduates Deepinder Goel and Pankaj Chaddah encountered the same problem when they worked at consultancy firm Bain and Company’s Delhi office between 2006 and 2009. “There was just one file with menu cards, and people would jostle with one another to grab it,” says Goel. So they scanned the menu cards and put them up online.“within days, the file became redundant. Everyone was logging onto our website Foodiebay.com,” says Chaddah. The two then approached restaurateurs to let them put up their menus online. As their blog started getting enough hits to become a business proposition, Goel and Chaddah quit their jobs and launched Zomato.com in July 2008. Standing for “tomato with a zing”, the site lists menus, pictures and even Google Maps links of 1,200-odd dine-in and delivery restaurants in and around Delhi. What’s more, a section on events around town and restaurant reviews by people make it a userdriven portal.
Make it Large
Zomato.com has an events and nightlife section. Mobile apps and a Gps-enabled search system were added in 2011. It has also tied up with the iball tablet to launch a pre-packaged application.
Hit Menu
2.5 million people visited the site in March. Chaddah and Goel plan to expand their listings to Dubai, Singapore and Shanghai.
It’s very convenient to log on to one site that gives you so much information on restaurants. Even I use Zomato frequently. But there’s one glitch; the reviews are not all authentic. There should be some streamlining.”
Anusui yasikka, Director, Magique hospitality