Zomato Media Pvt. Ltd has acquired non-profit food donation startup Feeding India, the food delivery and restaurant search firm’s founder said in a blog post.
Deepinder Goyal, who is also Zomato’s CEO, said Feeding India has been operating out of the company’s headquarters for the past six months and that its team has been completely integrated into the company. He didn’t disclose any financial details of the transaction.
The startup will continue its operations and will leverage Zomato’s technology and logistics, Goyal said.
He said the partnership with the not-for-profit organisation has already yielded positive results, with the number of monthly meals being distributed to the underprivileged and hungry jumping from 78,300 in December last year to over 1.1 million meals now.
Feeding India has also increased the number of cities it is operating in from 65 to 82, with the number of volunteers working with it rising from 8,500 to 21,500.
Zomato said it will also fund some initiatives run by Feeding India, including the development of Feedi.ng, a mobile application that will connect food donors and volunteers.
The company will publish Feeding India’s quarterly financials on the startup’s website; it aims to publish the first report by October.
“All the money with Feeding India will remain with Feeding India and be used for their mission ‘food for everyone’,” Goyal said in the blog post.
Queries sent to Zomato and Feeding India on the financial details of the transaction did not elicit a response till the time of publication.
Feeding India was founded by Ankit Kawatra and Srishti Jain and began operations in 2015. According to its website, the organisation says its service works by potential donors leaving a request on its website or mobile application. The volunteers or staff then go to the location to check and collect the food, which they then distribute.
The startup also serves freshly cooked food or raw grains to shelter homes and beneficiaries it has partnered with.
Zomato, which makes its money through advertising, online ordering and subscription services, was founded in 2008. It operates in over 60 cities in India and also has a presence in 20 other countries.
In February, the platform raised $62.25 million (around Rs 440.86 crore) in a fresh funding round from a clutch of investors that included Berlin-based Delivery Hero, which contributed around Rs 350 crore.
Earlier that month, the company raised Rs 284.42 crore (around $39.7 million) from US-based growth equity firm Glade Brook Capital. Zomato competes with firms such as the Naspers-backed Swiggy, UberEats and Foodpanda, among others.
