Zomato, after firming up a deal acquiring Uber’s food delivery business in India, has sent a mail welcoming Uber Eats India users and partners.
The restaurant aggregator, founded by Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah in 2008, said it has acquired the Indian business of Uber Eats in an all-stock deal that will give Uber 9.99 per cent stake in the Indian food delivery and restaurant discovery platform.
Zomato, one of the largest food apps in India, said Uber Eats in India will discontinue operations and direct restaurants, delivery partners, and users of the Uber Eats apps to the Zomato platform, effective today.
Uber Eats, which entered India in 2017, has about 26,000 restuarants listed on its platform from 41 cities.
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal said in the letter, "This is a key moment in our journey as it validates our collective achievement—we have worked very hard to get to this point. With our expansion to 550+ cities over the last year, our continued focus on user experience and our commitment to operating excellence, we have demonstrated our ability to execute on a variety of parameters."
"This acquisition is a start of a new cycle in our ongoing journey and we could not have been any more excited about the future."
Goyal said that with the acquisiiton of Uber Insia, Zomato is the undisputed market leader in the food delivery category in India. The competition in this space is going to continue to be intense, and the food delivery category is still very small compared to the overall food service market in India. This category will continue to grow and get built over the next couple of decades, as we work hand-in-hand with restaurants and food service providers to provide better food for more people.
"Through this deal, Uber Eats India users now become Zomato users. I want to assure Uber Eats India users that their user experience won’t be compromised in any way – if at all, the scale gives us higher density to make our deliveries faster. With Zomato, you’ll realise that we share a common love for great food."
"Our restaurant partners have innovated and delighted us in meeting the dizzying pace of consumer demand. And we will continue to work with them with utmost diligence and sincerity.
"Similarly, the delivery partners who were earlier associated with Uber Eats India will be on-boarded on our fleet. We welcome them and want to assure them we have their best interest in mind"
In addition to food delivery, Zomato will continue to focus on building our dining out business. "Hyperpure, our fresh and clean ingredient supply business for restaurants is growing by leaps and bounds and we couldn’t be prouder of the impact that we are making on our users, delivery partners, restaurants, farmers, and our employees," said the letter.
