Tag: Zomato

  • Flipkart Gears Up to Challenge Zomato and Swiggy with Low-Cost Food Delivery

    Flipkart Gears Up to Challenge Zomato and Swiggy with Low-Cost Food Delivery

    Flipkart, the Walmart-owned e-commerce giant, is preparing to enter India’s competitive food delivery market with a disruptive low-commission model. The company is set to launch its service in Bengaluru around August 15, with initial reports indicating that restaurants across the city are already being onboarded onto the platform.

    One of the most striking aspects of Flipkart’s entry is its proposed 10% commission rate for restaurant partners, significantly lower than the 16% to 30% typically charged by established players like Zomato and Swiggy. This aggressive pricing strategy could attract restaurants looking to reduce operational costs and pass on savings to customers.

    Flipkart’s foray into food delivery is expected to shake up a market that has long been dominated by Zomato and Swiggy. Reports suggest that Flipkart is taking a different approach than its competitors, exploring the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) as part of its long-term strategy to scale its food delivery business. This move aligns with the Indian government’s push for open, interoperable e-commerce.

    Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy has confirmed that the rollout will be phased. The company will first test the service with a limited set of users, gather feedback, refine the offering, and then scale it up. This cautious approach indicates Flipkart aims to deliver a polished experience from the outset.

    Flipkart brings several advantages to the table, including a vast existing customer base, one of the country’s largest delivery networks, and the financial backing of Walmart. These strengths could help the company gain significant traction soon after its launch.

    However, food delivery is a challenging business. Low commissions alone will not guarantee success. Fast and reliable delivery partners, efficient logistics, and excellent customer service are equally crucial. Zomato and Swiggy have spent years building these capabilities. If Flipkart wants to be a serious contender, it must match their operational excellence.

    Flipkart’s entry could inject much-needed competition into India’s food delivery market. If it can deliver both great service and lower costs, it could become a strong alternative for both restaurants and consumers. The coming months will reveal whether this new player can carve out a significant share of the market.

  • Eternal Q1 FY27: Profit Slips 47% Sequentially as Blinkit Drives Record Revenue Growth

    Eternal Q1 FY27: Profit Slips 47% Sequentially as Blinkit Drives Record Revenue Growth

    Eternal, the parent company of Zomato, Blinkit, Hyperpure, and District, reported its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2026. Despite a surge in revenue driven by its quick commerce arm Blinkit, the company’s consolidated net profit fell 47.1% sequentially to ₹92 crore, compared to ₹174 crore in the same quarter last year. The decline was attributed to continued investments in business expansion, particularly in Blinkit.

    Revenue Surge Fueled by Blinkit and Model Change

    Revenue from operations soared to ₹20,211 crore, up from ₹7,167 crore in the prior-year period. Eternal attributed this increase primarily to the shift to a first-party (1P) operating model, which recognizes the full value of goods sold as revenue. Consolidated adjusted revenue grew 173% year-on-year to ₹20,648 crore, while adjusted EBITDA more than doubled to ₹555 crore.

    The B2C segment’s net order value (NOV) rose 54% YoY to ₹31,120 crore, underpinned by strong demand in food delivery, quick commerce, and the going-out business.

    Blinkit Continues to Lead Growth

    Blinkit remained Eternal’s fastest-growing business, with NOV climbing 86% YoY to ₹17,132 crore. The quick commerce platform posted an adjusted EBITDA profit of ₹102 crore, marking its fifth consecutive quarter of margin improvement. Blinkit expanded its store network by 200 net new stores, reaching 2,443 locations, and focused on assortment expansion, geographic coverage, and demand densification.

    Deepinder Goyal, Founder of Eternal, commented: “If we’re doing our job well, growth and margins should compound together – because growth in this business comes from making the platform more useful to more people, which drives frequency, which drives density, which drives efficiency. The flywheel doesn’t ask you to choose.”

    Food Delivery and Other Segments Hold Steady

    Eternal’s food delivery business also maintained momentum, with NOV crossing ₹10,769 crore, up over 20% YoY. The segment reported an adjusted EBITDA profit of ₹606 crore, with margins improving to 5.6%. The going-out platform, District, achieved 60% YoY revenue growth to ₹3,218 crore, while Hyperpure posted revenue of ₹1,034 crore, a 27% increase on a like-for-like basis.

    Additionally, Eternal entered into a Business Transfer Agreement with its wholly owned subsidiary Carthero Technologies Private Limited to transfer the business under the brand name ‘Nugget by Zomato’ as part of an internal restructuring to streamline operations.

  • Zomato Founder Deepinder Goyal Bets on Brain Health with New Wearable Startup Temple

    Zomato Founder Deepinder Goyal Bets on Brain Health with New Wearable Startup Temple

    Deepinder Goyal, the visionary behind India’s food-tech giant Zomato, is making a bold pivot from food delivery to brain health. His latest venture, Temple, is developing a wearable device that tracks brain blood flow in real time. The startup recently raised $54 million in its first funding round, achieving a valuation of around $190 million—a striking vote of confidence in an unproven technology.

    From Canteen Menus to Forehead Patches

    Goyal’s entrepreneurial journey began in 2008 when he and a colleague noticed office workers queuing to see lunch menus. That observation led to Foodiebay, which later became Zomato—a public company and India’s first consumer tech unicorn. In early 2026, just weeks after stepping down as Zomato’s CEO, Goyal appeared on a podcast wearing a small forehead device called Temple. It wasn’t a gimmick; it was the prototype of his new startup.

    How Temple Works

    Temple’s product is a small, patch-like wearable that sticks to the temple or forehead. It claims to continuously monitor cerebral blood flow, similar to how fitness trackers measure heart rate or Oura rings track sleep. The ultimate goal: to help slow down aging by improving brain blood flow. Goyal has shared this theory online, but the science remains unverified and has not been peer-reviewed. Medical experts are skeptical, but investors are willing to bet on Goyal’s track record.

    Investor Confidence and Risks

    The $54 million round was led by Goyal’s long-time backers—Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia India), Info Edge, Steadview Capital, and Nikhil and Nithin Kamath of Zerodha. These investors saw Goyal turn a simple menu directory into a multi-billion-dollar business. Now they’re backing his foray into biotech and longevity, a field far riskier than food delivery. Goyal himself describes the move as “higher-risk exploration and experimentation.”

    A New Chapter for Indian Tech

    Temple is still in development. The company is running third-party studies to validate its metrics and recruiting early adopters to refine the technology. A consumer launch is expected within months. If successful, Temple could revolutionize how athletes monitor performance and how everyday people track brain health. If it fails, it will still be a landmark story—the moment one of India’s most celebrated founders bet his reputation not on food, but on the flow of blood through the human brain.

    Temple operates independently from Goyal’s other ventures, including Continue (a health-tech project), LAT Aerospace, and Zomato’s parent company Eternal. As Indian tech evolves, Temple signals that the next big innovation may not come from delivery apps but from a small device that sticks to your forehead and tries to read your brain.