Info Edge (India) Ltd. Invests a Further INR 55 Crore (~$10M) in Zomato

NEW DELHI, February 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Info Edge, which runs the recruitment site Naukri.com has announced a further investment of INR 55 Crore (~$10M) in the shares of restaurant guide service, Zomato. Prior to this round Info Edge had invested INR 31 Crore in Zomato over three rounds. As per the BSE filing, the fresh investment has been made through ordinary shares of Zomato Media Pvt. Ltd.

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"Zomato is fast emerging as one of the finest Indian consumer internet businesses. It has a great team, a great brand, a super user experience, a dominant market share, an excellent revenue scale up with a known path to profit and a global opportunity. When the founders invited us to invest in the next round we were delighted to grab the opportunity. We are excited to partner with Zomato to build up the company further." Info Edge Founder & Executive Vice Chairman Sanjeev Bikhchandani said. He also added, "While Info Edge has transitioned to a majority shareholding this will not transform the operating relationship between the investors and the founders who will continue to enjoy the same operating independence as earlier. The management team of Zomato has built the company and they shall continue to grow it out. We respect good entrepreneurs and we are here to support and not to control."

• Zomato was launched four years ago and currently operates in 5 countries: India, United Kingdom, UAE, Sri Lanka, and Qatar with further international expansion on the cards. In India, the operations span 13 cities
• The website and mobile app provide in-depth information (menu, contact details, pictures, directions, ratings and reviews) for over 75,000 restaurants across 19 cities in 5 countries
• Zomato has a dominant traffic share in India with an estimated 70% traffic share. Traffic to the site has grown by 250% over last year
• Zomato's mobile app is one of the most popular apps in India with over a million downloads across different platforms. More than 50% of Zomato's traffic comes from its app which is a big barrier to entry for other players in this market
• Monetisation trends are robust with a 700% growth in monthly billings as compared to a year ago. Billing continues to grow well month on month. The India operation broke even at the EBITDA level in December 2012
• The UAE site has become market leader within 6 months of launch. Monetisation has begun and the UAE operation is expected to break even on an EBITDA level within a few months
• More than 1500 restaurants in India have paid Zomato in the current FY. Renewal rates are in excess of 80%
• In the last 6 months, Zomato has added the following four new countries - UAE, United Kingdom, Sri Lanka and Qatar. The company intends to add several more geographies outside India in the next twelve months
• Globally, the most valuable company in this space is Yelp with a market cap in excess of $1.3B

Zomato will now focus on using the investment to further beef up market share in its existing markets while continuing to scale sales operations in its dominant markets - India and UAE. Additional country launches are also in the pipeline -with the company planning an entry into the Philippines and South Africa in the next few months. Deepinder Goyal, Founder & CEO of Zomato said, "We plan to use these additional funds for product development, scaling up our sales team in various locations, and further international expansion. India is already a profitable business for us, and our UAE business is very close to breaking even. Info Edge has been a great partner for us - we are excited about deepening this relationship with an aim to build a global internet business out of India." 

About Zomato.com

Zomato.com is an online food & nightlife guide with listings for over 75,000 restaurants across 5 countries - India, United Kingdom, UAE, Sri Lanka and Qatar. Zomato is currently the largest food and restaurant portal in India and was started by IIT Delhi alumni in July 2008. It has expanded its services to 19 cities across 5 countries over a span of 4 years. Zomato.com raised its first round of funding from Info Edge in August 2010. Zomato is headquartered in New Delhi and currently employs 200 people in 19 cities spread across 5 countries.

About Info Edge (India) Ltd

Info Edge (India) Limited (NSE: NAUKRI) is the leading internet company in India. Info Edge is well known for its internet businesses - Naukri.com - Jeevansathi.com; 99acres.com and Shiksha.com. The company also owns Quadrangle - an offline executive search firm, FirstNaukri, Naukri Gulf, Brijj and Allcheckdeals.com.

Info Edge, over the last 4 years, has ventured into newer areas by investing in promising start-ups in the Indian internet space. To date, including this investment in Zomato, it has invested an aggregate of over Rs 250crores in nine start ups. These include Zomato (Rs 86 Crore), Meritnation (Rs 31.5 Crore), Policybazaar (Rs 30 Crore), Mydala (Rs 27 Crore), Canvera (Rs 35 Crore), Happily Unmarried (Rs 5 Crore), 99labels (Rs 28.5 Crore) and Floost (Rs 2.3 Crore). Many of these sites are category leaders and are expected to become valuable companies. With its headquarters in Noida, Info Edge employs over 2500 people and operates through 59 offices in 35 cities in India and overseas offices in Dubai, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain.

Naina Sahni (VP, Public Relations, Zomato) - naina@zomato.com, +91-9850-096-111