With the advent of the Internet and tech-savvy smartphones, there’s a mobile app for everything under the sun. From booking a hotel room to ordering your favorite food, mobile apps have revolutionized our lifestyle.
Among all the service app categories, the food delivery business is the fastest-growing segment in India. Affordable, accessible, coupled with an array of food choices and free home delivery, food delivery apps have gained immense popularity in the last decade.
Owing to this popularity and rising demand, many startups have set their foot in the food delivery business. Starting a food ordering business surely looks lucrative in the long-term. Various studies have projected a compound annual growth rate of a whopping 9.5% from the year 2020-2024. The projected market volume is approximately expected to be more than the US $4,500 million.
Humongous growth potential? Isn’t it? Well, if there’s ever been a better time to start the food delivery app business, it’s today!
Many startups have thrived in this business. However, it all started with an idea. A unique idea coupled with the right business decisions were the catalyst for the best food delivery apps of today. Read on to know more about some popular food delivery apps in India, the face behind those food delivery apps, and their success stories.
Zomato
Not many people would be aware of it but Zomato, which started in 2008 was earlier known as Foodiebay. The IIT Delhi alumni – Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah started this venture in 2008.
It is one of the commonly used food delivery apps in India. When Deepinder and Pankaj worked in their previous office, their colleagues constantly struggled to order food.
Viewing the menu card, communicating the order, and waiting for it would be quite cumbersome. This daily struggle gave rise to the idea of converting the soft copy of menus into digital apps. Hence, ordering food became hassle-free, less time-consuming, efficient, and most importantly interesting! They were onwards and upwards from here on!
A service that started in Delhi later got extended to Mumbai and Kolkata. Foodiebay was rebranded and later renamed as ‘Zomato’. This was done solely to make the name easy, intriguing, and avoid the confusion of the former name being linked to eBay.
To expand the reach of the business, an easy-to-use mobile app was built. However, more funding was required for innovation. The unique idea seemed to have fascinated Sanjeev Bikhchandani, entrepreneur and founder of Naukri, a job search engine. He provided the initial investments to the company.
In 2010, Zomato received fundings from many other investors namely Infoedge, Vy Capital, Sequoia Capital, and many others. Today, Zomato is one of the largest food delivery apps globally. It is present in 24 countries including both the USA and Canada. Superior quality standards, hygiene, and proper packaging have been the USP of Zomato over the years.
Zomato is available on both the iOS and Android platforms. At the comfort of your home, you can order your favorite dish from your favorite restaurant.
That’s not it. You can also research the menu, directions, contact details, by applying various filters. With the latest Zomato Gold filter, it’s surely raining discounts and offers! You can grab discounts up to 40%, 1+1 on food, and 2+2 on drinks.
The founders of Zomato consider that hiring the right people is the primary reason for the growth of their company and was also the greatest obstacle they encountered while building Zomato. Now, they have got a squad that’s vital to brick their dream project.
Installs: 100,000,000+
Rating: 4.2
Reviews: More than 4.2 million
Swiggy
Zomato’s closest rival, Swiggy was founded in 2014. Its founders are Nandan Reddy and Sriharsha Majety, both are alumni of Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS). Since its launch, Swiggy is now present in every nook and corner of the country. It has more than 50 lakh mobile app installations.
Swiggy started in a small office in Bangalore. Slowly, the growth was impressive. They grew at approximately 20-25% every month and expanded their business in almost all the Tier-1 cities. Today, they have partnered with more than 15,000 restaurants across the country. Swiggy is also said to be India’s first online food ordering platform.
As the business grew, Rahul Janimini, an IIT Kharagpur alumni was roped in as the coder of the Swiggy platform. Swiggy is currently financed by 18 investors including ARK Impact and Tencent Holdings. In April 2020, it approximately raised $2 million from Fingerlix.
Swiggy is available on both the iOS and Android platforms. The impressive features of Swiggy have struck a chord among Indian consumers. Prompt delivery, Live Order Tracking, and top-notch customer service have always delighted Indian consumers.
Installs: 100,000,000+
Rating: 4.2
Reviews: More than 1.7 million
Box8
Box8 was launched by Amit Raj and Anshul Gupta in 2014. It is one of the emerging food delivery apps in India. If you are missing some desi food, this is the perfect food delivery app for it.
The app has 1000+ outlets in major Tier 1 cities namely Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, and Gurgaon. Box 8 also provides late-night food deliveries so that no users will starve with Box8 on their phones. Box8 focuses on Indian dishes to allow users to enjoy Indian cuisine at a low cost but of the highest quality.
Some attractive discount offers and codes will always tempt you to order your favorite food from BOX8. The daily discounts worth 50% off are surely worth a try. If you place a bulk order, there are some more bumper discounts. Box8 raised a total of $32.7 million in funding over 9 rounds. Its latest funding was raised from the Debt Financing round on April 20, 2020. Box8 is financed by 10 investors.
Installs: 1,000,000+
Rating: 4.4
Reviews: More than 50 thousand
Faasos
Burkina Faso which means “Land of Incorruptible People”. in French initiated the idea for the founders to name the company as Faasos. Even though it is not related to food, the founders thought it’s unique. Faasos is an Indian Online Food Delivery Company that has food outlets that sell wraps, rolls, Frankies, and Indian food items. Faasos delivers the food which is not from other restaurants but their kitchen.
Faasos operates in more than 15 major cities in India and has headquarters in Pune. It is the only company that works on all the three stages of food on-demand business i.e. – ordering, distribution, and order fulfillment. Jaydeep Barman and Kallol Banerjee established Faasos. In 2004, Faasos was started as a Calcutta Roll store in Pune. It took around 7 years for the founders to establish Faasos with full commitment. The first round of funding for Fasoos was led by Sequoia Capital which invested $8 million in 2011. Since then, it has constantly raised funding from various investors and witnessed a phenomenal growth trajectory. Recently in February 2020, it raised approximately $5 million from Alteria Capital.
Installs: 5,000,000+
Rating: 4.1
Reviews: More than 1.1 million
Domino’s
Jubilant Foodworks started its business as Domino’s Pizza India Private Limited in 1995 and opened Domino’s Pizza’s first outlet in 1996. In the first quarter of 2014, Jubilant Foodworks opened the 700th Domino’s Pizza outlet, and in the next 24 months, 300 more outlets were opened, making India the second-largest country after the United States to reach the 1,000th Domino’s Pizza store.
Dominos has an app that delivers hot pizza to your door in just 30 minutes. People love to eat pizza every time, especially when it’s a weekend away. The Domino’s app lets you customize the order and provides ease of use.
Dominos is one of the first food delivery apps in India.
Installs: 10,000,000+
Rating: 4.4
Reviews: More than 5 lakh
Eat.Fit
Eat.Fit is another unique food delivery app in India. It is a must-have food delivery app for health-conscious users and is operated by Cure.Fit. It was founded by Mayank Bansal who was a former Myntra co-founder. Just like Faasos, Eat.Fit also provides meal options prepared by their staff and does not offer food choices from third-party restaurants when you order food online.
The Eat.Fit app is visually appealing and systematically displays all the information. It provides monthly and weekly subscription plans for daily consumers. Eat.fit has good control over the quality and presence of the food served. It also provides nutrition information for all meal options.
Its menu mostly covers healthy food options and users can even change meals, delivery time, and cancel meals as per their convenience. A full refund is given on canceled meals. IDG Ventures, Accel Partners, and Kalaari Capital are some of the prominent investors of Eat.Fit app.
Installs: 5,000,000+
Rating: 4.4
Reviews: More than 80 thousand
UberEats
UberEats was started when Uber wanted to take a look at the food delivery service. This app lets you search for food — category, location, or restaurant wise. Uber Eats is available on Android and iOS devices as well. The ordering of food is made easy by three easy steps. Browse, Order, Track. UberEats also provides users with live order tracking and multiple payment options and you can also contact the delivery agent.
UberEats was launched in India in 2017 with a promise to revolutionize the sector. Since then, the San Francisco-based company has been trying to increase its customer base.
UberEats operates in more than 1000 + major cities around the world in different countries and it also works in all major cities in India. Zomato acquired Uber’s food-delivery business in India on Jan 21, 2019. Uber gets around 10% ownership in the food-delivery platform.
Installs: 100,000,000+
Rating: 4.2
Reviews: More than 2 lakh
Travelkhana
As the name suggests, Travel Khaana is an app that focuses on providing meals for railway passengers. Founded in 2012 by Pushpinder Singh, the app aims to provide meals from different restaurants near railway stations.
The app has more than 1200 vendors associated with it. IRCTC has also recently tied up with them. Travel Khaana is currently catering around 250 stations and serves in 4000+ trains. So now you know where to order delicious food for your train journey!
The app is available both on iOS and Android. Offering a variety of choices for rail passengers it is definitely an app that seems to have good potential in the future.
Installs: 1,000,000+
Rating: 3.6
Reviews: More than 30k
Bottom Line
The above-mentioned apps are the most famous and successful food delivery apps in India. Right from getting great deals at your favorite restaurants to exploring stunning restaurant recommendations from top-rated chefs, these apps completely assist you in your next dining experience.
Eiosys is a top offshore software development company in India. If you are looking for food delivery or grocery delivery app development, you can get in touch with us. Our solution is fully-loaded with all the features that you would require to run your business.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][mkd_section_title enable_separator=”no”]
Faqs
Why Are Food Delivery Apps So Popular?
There are more than a billion internet users in India. Internet penetration is now stronger than ever. The data and devices are getting cheaper every passing year. The millennials are relying on apps to get their tasks done. The usage of grocery ordering apps to learning apps is on the rise. Food delivery apps offer convenience to both the customers and the restaurants. This includes comfort, efficiency, and transparency. Restaurants do not have to pay hefty rents to get access to prime locations in the city. They can operate easily from any corner of the city.
Should food delivery apps be banned in India?
No. In addition to offering convenience to both the customers and restaurants, food delivery apps have added a lot of jobs in the market. There are tens of thousands of people earning their livelihood by working as delivery boys for these companies. Moreover, starting a restaurant is now easier and accessible to anyone and everyone.
Is a subscription-based home food delivery model feasible in India?
Yes. Many startups such as Homely had experimented with this model and found success. The last-mile delivery could be expensive but if executed in the right way, it could be a great business model.
What is some innovation in food delivery services?
A lot of companies are experimenting with drone delivery or electric vehicle delivery. This aim for carbon zero last-mile delivery will not only help the environment but also bring down the cost of delivery.
Why is Amazon entering into the food delivery service in India?
India is a lucrative market for the food delivery business. One of the biggest challenges in this business is last-mile delivery. Amazon is one of the top online shopping apps in India. It has a wide network of delivery in India. It employs thousands of delivery boys in India and handles lacs of delivery every single day. The food delivery business perfectly completes its existing e-commerce business. The same delivery boys can be used for food delivery business and Amazon pay can simplify the payment process. This can have a good impact on the bottom line of Amazon India.
Which is the best subscription-based food delivery app in India?
There are a lot of subscription-based food delivery apps in India. Out of the lot, our team has used eat fit frequently and we have to admit, it is great. It has a lot of food choices, is reasonably priced and the delivery is super fast!
Which is the best food delivery app in Mumbai?
Mumbai is a vast market and is serviced by some of the best apps in the industry. The top players dominating this market are Zomato, Swiggy, Dominoes, Box8, Mcdonald’s, and Faasos.
Which was the first food delivery app in India?
Foodpanda which was introduced in India in 2012 was officially the first wide-scale food delivery app in India. It was backed by a popular company – Rocket Internet. In 2017, Ola purchased Foodpanda for $200 million. There were many other food ordering apps that were launched around the same time. Few that gained popularity among them were tinyowl, holachef, etc.
Which are the top 10 Food delivery apps in India?
The top 10 food delivery companies in India are Zomato, Swiggy, Dominos, Box8, McDelivery, Eat Sure, UberEats, Eat Club, KFC India, and Cris Food.
