Zomato acquires drone firm TechEagle Innovations
Indian restaurant search and delivery platform Zomato has acquired drone-focused TechEagle Innovations, according to Economic times
The transaction, the fee of which remains unpublished, signals a desire on Zomato’s part to explore drone-based food delivery, with Economic Times noting that the firm has ambitions of building a hub-to-hub drone network in India.
Zomato recently acquired restaurant and caterer aggregator TongueStun in a deal worth around US$18mn to strengthen its position against rival Indian firm Swiggy.
Bloomberg Quint reported that Deepinder Goyal, CEO and Founder of Zomato, said:
“We believe that robots powering the last-mile delivery is an inevitable part of the future and hence is going to be a significant area of investment for us.”
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Goyal reportedly said that Zomato will develop multi-rotor drones with TechEagle to shorten the impact of the infamous last-mile for deliveries.
American ridesharing unicorn Uber, which operates a food delivery service in a similar vein to Zomato, is developing a drone-based food delivery service for San Diego, Bloomberg Quint added.
TechEagle, founded in 2015 by student Vikram Singh Meena, has been focused on developing drones capable of carrying 5kg of cargo.
Economic Times reported that 65% of Zomato’s business is accrued through food delivery, and added that it has received backing from Alibaba’s Ant Financial, Sequoia Capital, VY Capital, and InfoEdge.