When the then Bain & Co consultant Deepinder Goyal began to notice the high demand from his colleagues for menu cards, the idea of Zomato was born. Back then in its infancy, the company was known as Foodiebay. It was while still working at Bain that in Goyal’s home that the company became more than an idea and began to gain traction. Early in 2010 one avid user of their young service, the founder of Naukri.com offered up a $1 million dollar seed and the company went from strength to strength.

Recent forays into several new venture streams, namely event ticketing and restaurant marketing have not seen similar success. Goyal is however choosing to turn these failings into advantages by utilising redundant staff to expand into new areas. The company which is currently in eleven countries aims to expand to another twenty two countries over the span of two years. Goyal took an idea the subsequent company from his bedroom to the marketplace and a $161 million valuation. 

Early Life

Goyal graduated from IIT Delhi with a Mathematics and Computing degree in the year 2005. The next step was employment and Goyal was able to land a job at the consultancy firm Bain & Co. In 2006 Goyal began work as a Senior Associate Consultant. It would be a further 4 years before he and Pankaj Chaddah came up with the idea that would change their lives completely. It was during their times working at Bain that these two friends hatched a plan to make it easier for people to locate good restaurants and their menus.

Brief History

Since founding Foodiebay (which was Zomato in a far earlier form) in 2008, Goyal has shown great business acumen and his company has pushed forward despite the odd setback. From simple beginnings Zomato has built itself into an industry leading service and Goyal now has the bankroll to make serious investment choices. His portfolio has begun to show evidence of this motivated investor’s grand plan, with several large scale investments already under his belt.

Geographically

Goyal is located in New Delhi where he lives with his wife and their new baby daughter. The fledgling business began in Delhi and within the first few years was able to widen its net to include cities like Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata. The service is currently utilized in over ten countries with hopes of expanding to over twenty more. Although the business began catering to a mainly Indian market, it soon began to gain traction in other countries as people wondered what they did before Zomato. 

Significant Investments

With a couple of large investments under his belt already, it is clear that Goyal plans to use his new found investment power to his advantage. Goyal seemingly allowed his company to flourish before making any other investments. In 2014 the company began acquiring similar platforms with companies like MenuMania In New Zealand and Cibando from Italy all being added to the portfolio. In 2015 Goyal made the first of three large investments in the company Squad. This followed in 2016 with a sizable investment in Bira 91 and a $1.5 investment in the company HyperTrack.

 From a small group of colleagues and friends to a service used in 11 countries, this company and its co-founder’s investment savvy seem to know no bounds.