Online restaurant discovery portal Zomato has launched its service in Chile and plans to invest around Rs 12 crore to expand its services across other South American nations.
With the launch of Chile, the New Delhi-based portal is now present in 13 countries including UAE, South Africa, Philippines and Indonesia. The company in the last three months has evolved from a restaurant search service to include more discovery features like a social food feed and theme based collections.
Deepinder Goyal, Founder, Zomato said that the company already has a sizeable team in Santiago and is in the process of growing it further. Zomato has tied up with over 7000 food outlets in Santiago. Consumers in that country can browse through restaurant information in Spanish and English, read and write restaurant reviews, as well as build a personal network of trusted foodies, he added.
It also offers an exciting prospect for business owners to reach out to and engage with a highly targeted audience at www.zomato.com/business.
“We’re excited to bring Zomato to Chile and help people discover great restaurants around them. Whether you are looking for the perfect Beef Empanadas, Charquicán Stew, Churrasco, Chorrillanas, Completos or a great bar to get a quick Pisco Sour, our clean and simple interface enables quick discovery of whatever you fancy. With its rich dining culture and high internet and smartphone penetration, Chile is a very promising market for us,” said Goyal.
The India-born restaurant discovery service is one of the few startups that has gone global in a very short span of time. The company has also made its first acquisition, in an all-cash deal, with New Zealand's leading restaurant listing and review portal MenuMania for an undisclosed amount. It is also been reported that Zomato is in advanced stages to acquire one company in Southeast Asia and another in Europe. The company is not shy of growing inorganically if it is unable to gain market share in any particular geography.
According to Goyal the company has already been able to get a dominating position in countries such as UAE and Malaysia. In October 2013, Zomato raised $37 million from Sequoia Capital and Info Edge Ltd, at a valuation of $161 million with an aim to go global.