Food ordering and delivery platform Foodpanda is looking to invest Rs. 400 crores in its logistics division to further build its delivery operations along with its technology stacks. The company will be shelling out the capital over the course of the next 12 months to take on its cash rich rivals and regain lost ground in the market.
According to sources, the company plans to hire 25,000 delivery riders in the next 12 to 15 months to ensure a seamless user experience across the country. Along with improving the partner restaurants, users and rider experience, the investment will also be used to scale up their technology across all the metros and other key cities in the country. Speaking about the investment, in an official statement, Foodpanda India CEO Pranay Jivrajka said, “Creating a strong delivery ecosystem backed by technology is one of the most fundamental needs of the Indian food tech industry.”
Overall, the investment will help the foodtech company focus on creating transparent, more efficient and time saving procedures for delivery logistics. The company claims to have a presence in 130 towns and cities but will double down their focus on about 10 cities across which constitute about more than 50% of the overall orders received by the food delivery companies. Pranay Jivrajka further added their current plan is in line with their go to market strategy to make a difference in the food ordering experience of their restaurant partners, customers and riders. At present, Foodpanda offers menus from over 15,000 restaurants in India available on its app and website.
The food tech firm was acquired by homegrown cab aggregator Ola in December last year, with a commitment to infuse Rs. 1300 crores from parent ANI Technologies Pvt., Ltd. The all stock acquisition provided Ola with the opportunity to compete against global rival Uber, who also launched food delivery platform UberEATS.s
Currently, the food ordering and delivery industry is dominated by Zomato and Swiggy which are backed by big investors. Recently, Bengaluru based startup Swiggy also raised $100 million in a Series F funding round from Naspers.Meanwhile, Zomato also secured $300 million in funding from China’s ecommerce giant Alibaba.
