INDIA – Mobile food ordering and delivery marketplace, Foodpanda India has expanded to 13 more cities, allowing users select from local restaurants and place orders for delivery.
This builds on the number of its delivery network which already exists in seven cities namely Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune.
It is launching operations in Jaipur, Chandigarh, Kanpur, Lucknow, Indore, Ahmedabad, Nashik, Nagpur, Mysore, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Visakhapatnam and Coimbatore.
The company has already boarded 5,000 delivery partners in these 13 cities.
Foodpanda India which was acquired by Ola last year said it is learning from Ola’s extensive experience of building hyperlocal solutions to solve unique local challenges.
The acquisition of Foodpanda India from the Germany based Delivery Hero Group marked Ola’s entry into the food delivery space again.
The about US$40 million deal ushered Ola into the fast-growing online space in India to compete with rivals like Swiggy and Zomato.
“Being a part of the Ola platform, Foodpanda will explore opportunities to synergise its services and efforts of delivering superior food experiences to cater to a wider pool of customers across these cities,” said Foodpanda India CEO Pranay Jivrajka.
Scaling up deliveries
Jivrajka said: “We are in the midst of a fast-paced nationwide expansion with an ambition to serve a billion Indians.”
To address the growing needs of the delivery business, Foodpanda last month said it was planning to hire 60,000 delivery riders in the next two months.
The company also said it is aiming to increase its order volume substantially by creating a seamless food ordering experience and supporting it with robust delivery logistics.
This would be through establishing strategic and long-term relationships with partner restaurants and adding more restaurants to the platform.
Foodpanda launched The Crave Party collection on its platform for users across its top priority markets.
