Restaurant discovery service Zomato buys Urbanspoon for $60 million

Zomato Founder and Chief Executive Deepinder Goyal said the company’s Australian entry has been on the cards for a while.

“We’re delighted to be welcoming Urbanspoon into Zomato,” he said.

“We launched our New Zealand operations last year as a pilot for the Australia market and we are confident that we now have a playbook to succeed in Australia.”

Mr Goyal said Zomato’s core content features include scanned menus and photos that are sourced by its massive street team across its various cities of presence.

Users can also rate and review restaurants, as well as create their own network of foodies for personalised recommendations.

“The acquisition gives us a significant headstart in Australia. Urbanspoon has a huge following and is home to legions of people who are as passionate about food as we are.”

“We will soon be integrating the two products to bring the best of both products to our users in Australia as well as the rest of the world.”

Mr Goyal said the move will see Zomato create a number of jobs locally.

“We are looking to hire around 300 people in Australia in the very short term, with an investment of AUD$10 million planned over the coming year to consolidate its market leadership position,” he said.

Urbanspoon Chief Executive Keela Robison said the companies’ customer bases complement each other perfectly.

“Zomato’s significant investments in people and technology will bring Urbanspoon customers, restaurant owners, and food bloggers a number of new capabilities and features,” she said.

“We’re excited to combine our strengths to accelerate growth across the board.”

The Urbanspoon deal is just one of several acquisitions Zomato has made recently as it continues a global expansion.

Zomato will now be present in 22 countries across the world and its restaurant coverage will increase from about 300,000 restaurants to more than 1 million restaurants across the globe.

Source : News.com.au    January 15th 2015