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Zomato expands to Canada, unveils new look, to invest $10M in a year

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Zomato

Gurgaon-based Zomato Media Pvt Ltd, owner of the restaurant, event listing & review site Zomato.com , has expanded to North America by launching its operations in Toronto (Canada). Zomato said in a statement that it will cover over 11,000 restaurants in the Greater Toronto Area and the services will be available on the web as well as on various mobile platforms, including iOS, Android, Windows and Blackberry.

The firm has also earmarked $10 million for the Canada expansion.

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"Canada boasts of a vibrant restaurant industry, and it is a hugely promising market for us. We've earmarked $10 million for our expansion in Canada, and are committed to making Zomato the go-to restaurant discovery service in the country. Canada is truly a great starting point for us before we think of getting into the US," said Deepinder Goyal, founder and CEO of Zomato.

Users can browse through restaurant information, read and write restaurant reviews, share pictures, and build a personal network of people whose opinions they trust. Zomato also offers prospect for business owners to reach out to and engage with a highly-targeted audience. Additionally, its app allows users to discover restaurants around them based on their physical location.

"Whether it's Tourtière, Arctic Char, Smoked meat, Cheval or Bloody Caesar, Canadians are bona fide food lovers. We already have a sizeable local team and are in the process of growing it further. We aim to have a 50-member team within the next twelve months," said Jeremy Potvin, country manager, Zomato Canada.

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"Over the next few months, we plan to expand to other cities including Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa and Calgary," Potvin added.

Unveils new logo

Zomato has unveiled a new logo and revamped its site. According to Goyal, the new logo transcends languages and cultures. "It captures the story of millions of meals and experiences being shared with a vast global community of people. Additionally, it signifies our connection with those who share our passion for food," he added.

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Zomato was founded in 2008 by IIT Delhi alumni and ex-Bain employees Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah. An online and mobile restaurant discovery service, Zomato provides information such as menus, directions, contact details, pictures and user reviews for over 260,000 restaurants. The firm is present in over 100 cities across 16 countries, including India, the UK, the Czech Republic, the UAE, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Qatar.

The services are available on the web, and on mobile for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and Blackberry platforms. Zomato claims that it is currently seeing over 30 million monthly visits globally across its web and mobile platforms.

To date, Zomato has secured $53.5 million in funding, the latest one being $37 million that it had raised from Sequoia Capital and existing investor Info Edge India Ltd, owner of Naukri.com and 99acres.com. According to Techcircle.in estimates, Sequoia picked around 17.2 per cent stake as part of the latest investment, giving Zomato a post-money valuation of around Rs 1,000 crore or around $158 million.

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In the recent past, Zomato acquired four companies globally. These acquisitions include MenuMania is New Zealand, Lunchtime in Czech Republic, Obedovat in Slovakia, and Gastronauci in Poland.


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