BENGALURU: Food delivery company Zomato will foray into the financial services business with the launch of a non-banking finance company (NBFC). Zomato’s board has approved the incorporation of an NBFC, which will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company.
Also, the company will pick up a 19.48% stake for about Rs 112.20 crore in adtech company Adonmo and will buy a 5% stake for Rs 37.38 crore in B2B software platform UrbanPiper Technology. “Both UrbanPiper and Adonmo investments are synergistic to our core business and will help accelerate growth of these companies which will help in filling important gaps in the food ordering and delivery ecosystem in India,” Zomato said in its filings.
As far as the NBFC is concerned, the proposed paid-up capital will be Rs 3 crore and the proposed authorised capital will be Rs 10 crore. Zomato is yet to finalise its name. Adonmo is a new-age start-up pioneering a technology fuelled transformation in outdoor advertising. The company’s turnover in the last fiscal was about Rs 3.27 crore. Zomato said its investments in Adonmo will help the company grow its business and also help its food ordering and delivery business leverage new digital avenues.
Founded in 2016, UrbanPiper is a B2B software platform that acts like a “middle layer” between restaurants and food ordering and delivery players and enables restaurants to integrate with multiple players through a single digital interface. About 80% of restaurants still use legacy systems or manual processes leading to delay in order flow and errors in order processing.
UrbanPiper solves this problem for restaurants through technology helping more restaurants become “food-delivery ready”, Zomato said. UrbanPiper processes 12 million orders a month at over 23,000 restaurant locations in the country. The company’s turnover in the last fiscal was over Rs 6.33 crore. In 2021, Zomato said it plans to invest $1 bn in start-ups over the next 2 years and it had invested in Curefit and Shiprocket.