Restaurant search app Zomato has acquired Urbanspoon, giving it a free-pass into the US market as demand for food and restaurant discovery services double up globally.
The all-cash deal makes will see Zomato integrate Urbanspoon into its platform so Urbanspoon traffic and users will shifted over to Zomato.com, Zomato apps.
In a statement, Deepinder Goyal, Founder and CEO of Zomato, said, “Our US entry has been in the cards for a while now, and we’re delighted to be doing so by welcoming Urbanspoon into Zomato. They have a strong presence in the US and the UK, and they also dominate restaurant search in Australia and Canada. Urbanspoon has a huge following, and is home to legions of people who are as passionate about food as we are. We will soon be integrating the two products to bring the best of both products to our users in the United States as well as the rest of the world.”
Ubarnspoon was acquired for an undisclosed amount and is Zomato’s sixth acquisition in the last six months, and the biggest one after Zomato’s recent acquisitions in New Zealand, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Italy.
The deal makes Zomato, founded in India, to be present in 22 countries across the world including India and South Africa and puts 35 million visits per months to more than 80 million visits per month, and probably the largest restaurant search company in the world according to its figures.
“Zomato has experienced phenomenal growth in recent years, and our customer bases complement each other’s perfectly,” said Keela Robison, Urbanspoon CEO. “Zomato’s significant investments in people and technology will bring Urbanspoon customers, restaurant owners, and food bloggers a number of new capabilities and features. We’re excited to combine our strengths to accelerate growth.”
Urbanspoon aggregates reviews from professional food critics, bloggers, and local diners to help people everywhere decide where and what to eat and provides reviews for restaurants in the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.
