Dubai: Zomato, a popular restaurant listing website in the UAE, expanded its New Zealand operations on Tuesday with the announcement of an all-cash acquisition of Menu Mania.
Deepinder Goyal, founder & CEO, told Gulf News the acquisition will strengthen Zomato’s position in the Kiwi market.
Zomato entered New Zealand a year ago, however, has struggled to take market share away from the eight year strong Menu Mania.
Menu Mania’s four staff will stay on with Zomato for the next six months while the website and services are integrated under the Zomato brand, Goyal said. He declined to reveal the sum of the deal.
Zomato secured $37 million (Dh135 million) in capital last year, which Goyal said, is still in the bank and that the company could look for a further $200 million to fund future growth plans.
Zomato’s biggest market is still India, its home market. Goyal, however, said that the UAE is growing rapidly.
He said that there is “more traffic from Dubai than Delhi” at the moment and that if the UAE’s growth rate continues he would expect to increase the UAE workforce from 75 to 200 over the next 12 months.
Zomato is now in 12 markets including Qatar and London and plans to be in 35 in the next two years. Lebanon is launching in September, Goyal said.
However, Goyal sees just five markets where acquisitions might be necessary. Zomato plans to expand in South East Asia, the Middle East and Europe over the next six to 12 months.
