Zomato

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An Indian restaurant-discovery, food-ordering and delivery platform.

Last updated October 21, 2026

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First read: Nov 4, 2026
Latest read: Nov 4, 2026

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Overview

Zomato is an Indian consumer internet brand focused on restaurant discovery, online food ordering, delivery and dining services. It was created in 2008 by Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah while they were working at Bain & Company. The founders initially launched a restaurant-listing website called FoodieBay, making menus and restaurant information easier for office workers and consumers to access. The business was incorporated in 2010 and renamed Zomato later that year, partly to create a more distinctive identity and avoid a possible naming conflict with eBay. Zomato’s original proposition combined restaurant listings, menus, reviews, ratings, photographs and recommendations. It expanded rapidly across major Indian cities in the early 2010s and then entered a number of overseas markets, including the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Qatar, the Philippines, New Zealand, Turkey, Brazil, Indonesia, Chile, Portugal, Canada, Lebanon, Ireland, the United States and Australia. Its 2015 acquisition of Seattle-based Urbanspoon supported entry into the United States and Australia, although Zomato later closed the Urbanspoon service and redirected its traffic. The company moved into food delivery in India in 2015. Initially, it worked with third-party logistics providers and restaurant delivery partners; following the 2017 acquisition of Runnr, it developed a larger in-house delivery capability. Food delivery subsequently became the company’s central operating business, supported by restaurant advertising, commissions, consumer memberships, dining reservations and other platform services. Zomato launched table reservations in 2016 and introduced Zomato Gold, a paid membership program offering dining and delivery benefits, in 2017. Zomato’s major strategic transactions have included the sale of its United Arab Emirates food-delivery business to Talabat in 2019 and the acquisition of Uber Eats’ Indian operations in 2020. The Uber transaction was structured as an all-stock deal and resulted in Uber receiving a minority stake in Zomato; Uber Eats users and restaurant partners in India were moved to Zomato. During the COVID-19 period, Zomato temporarily expanded into grocery and essential-item delivery through Zomato Market, introduced contactless dining, and delivered alcohol in several Indian states. The alcohol initiative was later discontinued because the company considered its economics and scalability inadequate. In 2021, Zomato announced a retreat from most international operations, retaining India as its principal market and restaurant-discovery activity in the United Arab Emirates. By early 2024, it had liquidated more than ten overseas subsidiaries. The company also experimented with inter-city food delivery through Legends and merchant parcel delivery through Xtreme, but both initiatives were discontinued. Its broader ecosystem has included Feeding India, a hunger-relief nonprofit acquired in 2019, and Blinkit, a quick-commerce business within the wider corporate group. As described in reference material for 2023, Zomato offered food delivery and table reservations in more than 800 Indian cities, while restaurant-discovery services outside India were substantially limited to the UAE. The brand’s present identity is therefore primarily that of a large Indian food-delivery marketplace connecting consumers, restaurants and delivery workers, rather than its earlier identity as a multinational restaurant-information directory.

History

Zomato began on 10 July 2008 as FoodieBay, a restaurant-listing website created by Bain & Company employees Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah. The founders initially addressed a practical problem: restaurant menus and dining information were difficult to collect and share in a convenient digital format. They left Bain in November 2009 to work on the company full time, and the business was incorporated in January 2010 as DC Foodiebay Online Services Private Limited. In November 2010, it adopted the Zomato name. A mobile application followed in December 2010. The early business concentrated on restaurant discovery, menus, user reviews, recommendations and related information. In 2011, Zomato expanded from its initial Delhi presence into Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad. It then pursued an ambitious international rollout. During 2012 and 2013, it entered markets including the UAE, Sri Lanka, Qatar, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, South Africa, New Zealand, Turkey, Brazil and Indonesia. Chile and Portugal followed in 2014, while Canada, Lebanon and Ireland were added in 2015. The company also experimented with online event ticketing and other extensions of its food-and-dining information model. In January 2015, Zomato acquired Urbanspoon, a Seattle-based restaurant-discovery portal. The deal gave Zomato a route into the United States and Australia and placed it in competition with established discovery and review platforms. Zomato later closed Urbanspoon and redirected its traffic to its own service. The company’s international reach eventually exceeded 20 countries, but the economics and competitive conditions of these markets proved difficult to sustain. Zomato entered Indian food delivery in March 2015. It initially relied on hyperlocal logistics companies such as Delhivery, Grab and Runnr, particularly for restaurants that did not operate their own delivery fleets. The acquisition of Runnr in 2017 helped Zomato build a more integrated delivery operation. Food delivery increasingly became the company’s core business, while restaurant listings and reviews remained important for customer acquisition and ordering decisions. Zomato added table reservations in 2016 and launched the paid Zomato Gold membership in 2017, giving subscribers access to promotional dining and delivery benefits. The company continued to reshape its portfolio through acquisitions and divestments. In 2019, it acquired Feeding India, a nonprofit founded by Ankit Kawatra that organizes hunger-relief and meal-distribution initiatives. In the same year, Zomato sold its UAE food-delivery business to Talabat. In January 2020, it acquired Uber Eats’ Indian operations in an all-stock transaction. Uber Eats ceased its separate Indian service, and its users and restaurant partners migrated to Zomato. The transaction also gave Uber a minority holding in Zomato. The COVID-19 pandemic led Zomato to test adjacent services. From April to July 2020, Zomato Market delivered groceries and essential items in more than 80 Indian cities as consumers faced lockdown restrictions. The company also introduced contactless dining and temporarily delivered alcohol in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha. Alcohol delivery was withdrawn in 2021 because the company judged the business model insufficiently economical and scalable. In November 2021, Zomato announced that it would discontinue services in all countries except India and the UAE. The retreat marked a major strategic shift away from the earlier international expansion strategy. By early 2024, the company had completed liquidation of more than ten overseas subsidiaries, most of which had been connected with restaurant discovery and reviews. In India, Zomato continued operating food delivery and dining services at substantial scale. Reference material describes coverage in more than 800 Indian cities in 2023, while its non-Indian restaurant-discovery presence was largely confined to the UAE. Zomato continued experimenting with logistics and new ordering models. It launched Legends in 2022 as an inter-city food-delivery service, but discontinued it in 2024. In 2023, it introduced Xtreme, a merchant-focused small-parcel delivery product, and later shut it down because demand was inadequate. Feeding India remained part of the company’s social-impact activity; reference material states that its Daily Feeding Program was serving more than 200,000 meals per day in 2022. Feeding India also organized benefit concerts in Mumbai, including events featuring Post Malone in 2022 and Dua Lipa in 2024. Security incidents have been an important part of Zomato’s corporate history. In June 2015, a researcher exploited a website vulnerability and accessed information connected to approximately 62.5 million users, including contact information and certain Instagram-linked data. Zomato said it repaired the problem within 48 hours. In May 2017, HackRead reported that more than 17 million records containing email addresses and password hashes had been stolen. Zomato stated that payment information was not compromised and that the data was removed from the dark web after the company agreed to establish a bug-bounty program. Zomato is now principally an Indian food-delivery and dining platform within the wider Eternal Limited group. Its evolution has taken it from a restaurant directory to a transaction-oriented marketplace combining discovery, ordering, delivery, restaurant promotion, reservations and selected social-impact initiatives.

2023
Operations reported in more than 800 Indian cities
[1]Zomatoen.wikipedia.org
Reference material describes Zomato food-delivery and table-reservation availability across more than 800 Indian cities.
2022
Legends launched
[1]Zomatoen.wikipedia.org
Zomato introduces an inter-city food-delivery service.
2021
International retrenchment announced
[1]Zomatoen.wikipedia.org
Zomato announces that it will cease services outside India and the UAE.
2020
Uber Eats India acquired
[1]Zomatoen.wikipedia.org
Zomato acquires Uber Eats’ Indian business in an all-stock transaction.
2019
Feeding India acquired
[1]Zomatoen.wikipedia.org
Zomato brings the hunger-relief nonprofit Feeding India into its corporate ecosystem.
2017
Zomato Gold launched
[1]Zomatoen.wikipedia.org
The company introduces a paid membership offering dining and delivery-related benefits.
2016
Table reservations introduced
[1]Zomatoen.wikipedia.org
Zomato adds restaurant table reservations to its Indian application.
2015
Food delivery launched in India
[1]Zomatoen.wikipedia.org
Zomato begins offering food delivery in India, initially using external logistics partners.
2015
Urbanspoon acquired
[1]Zomatoen.wikipedia.org
The acquisition expands Zomato’s restaurant-discovery footprint into the United States and Australia.
2012
International expansion begins
[1]Zomatoen.wikipedia.org
The company enters several overseas markets, including the UAE, Sri Lanka, Qatar, the United Kingdom, the Philippines and South Africa.
2011
Expansion across major Indian cities
[1]Zomatoen.wikipedia.org
Zomato expands beyond Delhi into Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
2010
Company incorporated and renamed Zomato
[1]Zomatoen.wikipedia.org
The company is incorporated as DC Foodiebay Online Services Private Limited and adopts the Zomato name later that year.
2008
FoodieBay is launched
[1]Zomatoen.wikipedia.org
Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah launch a restaurant-listing website called FoodieBay on 10 July.

Products and positioning

Convenient, broad-reach digital access to restaurants, dining information and delivered food, with a mass-market Indian platform orientation.

Restaurant information platform · 2008
Zomato restaurant discovery
The original Zomato proposition provides restaurant listings, menus, photographs, ratings, reviews and recommendations. Discovery features help consumers compare venues and select restaurants before placing an order or making a reservation. Outside India, this activity was substantially reduced after the company’s international retreat, with the UAE remaining a principal non-Indian market.
Food delivery · 2015
Zomato food delivery
Zomato’s central consumer service connects users with restaurants for online ordering and delivery. The business coordinates restaurants, customers and delivery workers through its digital platform and developed a more integrated delivery capability after acquiring Runnr. Delivery became the company’s main operating focus after its 2015 launch in India.
Dining services · 2016
Zomato table reservations
Introduced in India in 2016, table reservations extend Zomato beyond delivered meals into in-person dining. Users can discover participating restaurants and reserve tables through the application, while restaurants gain a digital channel for attracting and managing diners.
Membership program · 2017
Zomato Gold
Zomato Gold was a paid membership program launched in 2017. It offered subscribers promotional benefits at participating restaurants and on selected food-delivery transactions, supporting customer retention and increasing engagement across Zomato’s discovery, dining and ordering services.
Grocery and essentials delivery · 2020
Zomato Market
Zomato Market was a temporary pandemic-era service for delivering groceries and essential products. It operated in more than 80 Indian cities between April and July 2020 as lockdowns increased demand for online shopping. It was an adjacent experiment rather than a permanent replacement for the core restaurant business.
Inter-city food delivery · 2022
Legends
Legends attempted to enable customers to order food from restaurants in other Indian cities. The service represented an effort to extend Zomato’s delivery network beyond local restaurant transactions, but it was discontinued in 2024 after approximately two years.
Merchant parcel delivery · 2023
Xtreme
Xtreme was a merchant-oriented logistics service launched in 2023 for sending and receiving small parcels. It sought to use Zomato’s delivery capabilities outside food orders, but the company later closed the product because demand was not sufficient.
Social-impact initiative · 2014
Feeding India
Feeding India is a hunger-relief nonprofit founded by Ankit Kawatra and acquired by Zomato in 2019. It organizes volunteer-supported meal distribution and the Daily Feeding Program. Reference material states that the program was serving more than 200,000 meals per day in 2022.

Controversies

2020
Kumar Vishwas sues Zomato and Radio City over alleged poem use in advertisement
Poet Kumar Vishwas filed a suit against Zomato Media Pvt. Ltd. and Radio City, alleging that a Zomato promotional advertisement used and modified lines from his copyrighted poem. The source describes the matter as pending and reports the defendants' argument that the alleged use was trivial and did not violate his rights; it does not establish a final determination.
Source
2019
Zomato fined over mosquito breeding at Chennai office
In 2019, the Greater Chennai Corporation fined Zomato Rs 1 lakh after its Chennai office was found to have stagnant water in unused delivery bags that could serve as a mosquito breeding source. Zomato acknowledged the fault and said it would pay the fine and clean the premises. The penalty followed the discovery of the stagnant water in the unused bags at the office.
Source
2019
Zomato responds after delivery partner is arrested in murder case
After a Zomato delivery partner was arrested in connection with the murder of Kamlesh Tiwari, Zomato said it had zero tolerance for anyone breaking the law and would support the authorities. The article also reports that users questioned the company and sought safety assurances.
Source
2017
Reported theft of user records
HackRead reported that more than 17 million Zomato user records, including email addresses and password hashes, had been stolen. Zomato stated that payment and credit-card information was not taken. The reported hacker removed the data from the dark web after Zomato agreed to create a bug-bounty program.
Source
2015
Website vulnerability exposes user information
A security researcher exploited a vulnerability in Zomato’s website and accessed information associated with approximately 62.5 million users, including telephone numbers, email addresses and Instagram-linked private-photo data. Zomato said it corrected the issue within 48 hours.
Source

2024Feeding India benefit concert featuring Dua Lipa
India
Feeding India organized a Mumbai benefit concert featuring Dua Lipa as part of its public awareness and fundraising activity related to hunger relief.
Source
2022Feeding India benefit concert featuring Post Malone
India
Feeding India organized a Mumbai benefit concert headlined by Post Malone to raise awareness and support for hunger and malnutrition relief.
Source

Brand decisions

2023
Launch XtremeProduct launch
Background
Zomato sought to use its delivery infrastructure for merchant logistics beyond restaurant meals.
Action taken
It launched Xtreme for small-parcel sending and receiving by merchants.
Aftermath
Xtreme was later shut down because demand was insufficient.
Source
2022
Launch LegendsProduct launch
Background
Zomato explored ways to extend its marketplace beyond local restaurant delivery.
Action taken
It introduced Legends, an inter-city food-delivery service.
Aftermath
The service was discontinued in 2024.
Source
2021
Concentrate operations on India and the UAEStrategy
Background
Zomato had expanded into many international markets but faced the challenge of sustaining a broad multinational restaurant-discovery footprint.
Action taken
The company announced that it would cease services in all countries except India and the UAE.
Aftermath
More than ten overseas subsidiaries were liquidated by early 2024, and the business became primarily India-focused.
Source
2020
Acquire Uber Eats IndiaM&A
Background
Zomato and Uber Eats competed in India’s developing online food-delivery market.
Action taken
Zomato acquired Uber Eats’ Indian operations in an all-stock transaction, after which Uber Eats ended its standalone Indian service.
Aftermath
Uber Eats customers and restaurant partners were migrated to Zomato, and Uber received a minority stake in the company.
Source
2019
Acquire Feeding IndiaM&A
Background
Feeding India operated volunteer-led meal distribution and hunger-relief programs.
Action taken
Zomato acquired the nonprofit and incorporated its work into the company’s social-impact activities.
Aftermath
The initiative continued meal-distribution programs and public benefit events under the Zomato ecosystem.
Source
2015
Enter Indian food deliveryProduct launch
Background
Zomato had established a large restaurant-discovery and information service but sought to participate directly in restaurant transactions.
Action taken
It launched food delivery in India, initially working with third-party logistics companies and restaurants with delivery arrangements.
Aftermath
Food delivery became the company’s core business and was later supported by the acquisition of Runnr and a larger internal delivery network.
Source

Recent events

Unconfirmed
Reported2026.11.03
Zomato launches Host Mode[6]Zomato推出Host Modetimesofindia.indiatimes.com
Zomato launched Host Mode in India, allowing guests in group food orders to browse menus and add dishes without seeing prices while the host retains access to the bill before placing the order.
2026.10.30
Reported2026.10.30
Zomato launches “Have a WOW Diwali” campaign[7]Zomato推出“Have a WOW Diwali”广告活动adgully.com
Zomato launched a digital-first Diwali campaign featuring Saif Ali Khan. The campaign film is live on Zomato’s official Instagram and YouTube pages.
2026.10.29
Zomato announces Mehmaan Mode feature[8]Zomato宣布推出Mehmaan Mode功能retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal said the company would roll out Mehmaan Mode, a feature that hides food-item prices while guests place a group order.
2026.08.18
Reported2026.08.18
Zomato launches PackSwitch sustainable packaging platform[9]Zomato推出PackSwitch可持续包装平台retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com
Zomato launched PackSwitch, an interactive platform that helps restaurants identify sustainable packaging options for different dishes through a three-step process and connects them with a network of over 100 verified suppliers across India.
Unconfirmed
Reported2026.01.05
Zomato sacks close to 5,000 gig workers a month over fraud cases[10]Zomato 因欺诈案件每月解雇近5000名零工retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com
Zomato sacks close to 5,000 gig workers a month due to cases involving fraud, while another 150,000 to 200,000 workers leave the platform on their own, according to parent firm Eternal's founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal.
2021.12.14
Zomato appoints deputy CFO and chief sustainability officer[11]Zomato 任命副首席财务官和首席可持续发展官retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com
Zomato appointed Nitin Savara as deputy chief financial officer and Anjalli Ravi Kumar as chief sustainability officer.
2021.12.03
Reported2021.12.03
Cultfit operator Curefit raises $145 million[12]Cultfit运营方Curefit融资1.45亿美元economictimes.indiatimes.com
Curefit Healthcare, which operates the Cultfit fitness platform, raised $145 million in a funding round led by Zomato. Zomato contributed $100 million, and other participants included Accel, South Park Commons, Temasek, individuals and cofounder Mukesh Bansal.
2021.11.10
Reported2021.11.10
Zomato announces planned exit from Lebanon[13]Zomato宣布计划退出黎巴嫩市场outlookindia.com
Zomato announced that it would shut down its operations in Lebanon, its only international market at the time.
2021.11.10
Reported2021.11.10
Zomato announces Fitso divestiture to Curefit[13]Zomato宣布计划退出黎巴嫩市场outlookindia.com
Zomato announced that it would divest its recently acquired company Fitso to Curefit Healthcare for $50 million.
2021.09.27
Reported2021.09.27
Zomato wins ET Startup of the Year 2021[14]Zomato获评《经济时报》2021年度创业公司economictimes.indiatimes.com
Zomato was voted The Economic Times Startup of the Year 2021 by a jury.

Sources95 sources

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