Its latest funding round has been led by Singapore firm Temasek, making its first investment in the business, with existing investor Vy Capital also involved. So far Zomato has raised a total of $225 million from only four backers – InfoEdge and Sequoia India are the other two.
The money will be used to fund its move into “new business verticals”, including its white-label proposition also announced today. The Zomato White Label Platform is a full set of technologies available on a subscription basis – its Zomato for Business app will be included free of charge, from where the paid-for elements can be added.
The target market for the white label business is “asset-heavy” restaurants which have not yet developed an online presence. Ashish Goel, its head of product and design, said Zomato was carving out a unique food-tech presence by giving restaurants “the entire suite of technologies required to run an internet presence, closely integrated with the operations of their business.”
It will be available in all of the 22 countries where Zomato is present.
Zomato has been developing its B2B side to sit alongside its well-established consumer-facing restaurant search and reviews site. It owns specific tech to handle cashless payments, online ordering, table reservations and point-of-sale systems.
Another new revenue stream is deliveries – in the past week or so it has invested in two Indian local delivery specialists Gurgaon-based Pickingo, and Mumbai-based Grab.
Founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal, said that some of Zomato’s country markets have turned profitable recently and that this with the funding, means the business is now “well capitalised for at least two years.”
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