<s>
Zomato	B-Application
(	O
/zoʊˈmætɔː/	O
)	O
is	O
an	O
Indian	O
multinational	O
restaurant	O
aggregator	O
and	O
food	O
delivery	O
company	O
,	O
founded	O
by	O
Deepinder	B-Application
Goyal	I-Application
and	O
Pankaj	O
Chaddah	O
in	O
2008	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Zomato	B-Application
provides	O
information	O
,	O
menus	O
and	O
user-reviews	O
of	O
restaurants	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
food	O
delivery	O
options	O
from	O
partner	O
restaurants	O
in	O
more	O
than	O
1,000	O
Indian	O
cities	O
,	O
as	O
of	O
2022	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Zomato	B-Application
was	O
founded	O
as	O
FoodieBay	B-Application
in	O
2008	O
by	O
Deepinder	B-Application
Goyal	I-Application
and	O
Pankaj	O
Chaddah	O
who	O
worked	O
for	O
Bain	O
&	O
Company	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
renamed	O
the	O
company	O
Zomato	B-Application
in	O
2010	O
as	O
they	O
were	O
unsure	O
if	O
they	O
would	O
"	O
just	O
stick	O
to	O
food	O
"	O
and	O
also	O
to	O
avoid	O
a	O
potential	O
naming	O
conflict	O
with	O
eBay	B-Application
.	I-Application
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
introduction	O
of	O
.xxx	O
domains	O
in	O
2011	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
also	O
launched	O
zomato.xxx,	O
a	O
site	O
dedicated	O
to	O
food	O
porn	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
January	O
2015	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
acquired	O
Seattle-based	O
restaurant	O
discovery	O
portal	O
Urbanspoon	B-Application
,	O
which	O
led	O
to	O
the	O
firm	O
's	O
entry	O
into	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
and	O
Australia	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
U.S.-expansion	O
brought	O
Zomato	B-Application
into	O
direct	O
competition	O
with	O
similar	O
models	O
such	O
as	O
Yelp	B-Application
and	O
Foursquare	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
an	O
effort	O
to	O
expand	O
its	O
business	O
beyond	O
restaurant	O
listing	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
started	O
its	O
food	O
delivery	O
service	O
in	O
India	O
in	O
2015	O
,	O
initially	O
partnering	O
with	O
companies	O
such	O
as	O
Delhivery	O
and	O
Grab	O
to	O
fulfill	O
deliveries	O
from	O
restaurants	O
that	O
did	O
not	O
have	O
its	O
own	O
delivery	O
service	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
April	O
2015	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
acquired	O
the	O
American	O
online	O
table	O
reservation	O
platform	O
NexTable	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
subsequently	O
renamed	O
as	O
Zomato	B-Application
Book	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
January	O
2016	O
,	O
it	O
launched	O
Zomato	B-Application
Book	O
's	O
table	O
reservation	O
feature	O
on	O
its	O
application	O
in	O
India	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
April	O
2015	O
,	O
it	O
acquired	O
cloud-based	B-Architecture
point	O
of	O
sale	O
(	O
PoS	O
)	O
company	O
MapleGraph	O
Solutions	O
,	O
and	O
,	O
in	O
April	O
2016	O
,	O
launched	O
its	O
own	O
version	O
of	O
PoS	O
for	O
restaurant	O
owners	O
called	O
Zomato	B-Application
Base	O
,	O
comprising	O
menu	O
and	O
inventory	O
management	O
,	O
payment	O
system	O
and	O
analytics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
that	O
year	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
acquired	O
Sparse	O
Labs	O
(	O
renamed	O
Zomato	B-Application
Trace	O
)	O
and	O
integrated	O
the	O
latter	O
's	O
real-time	O
delivery	O
location	O
tracking	O
technology	O
on	O
its	O
food	O
delivery	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
February	O
2017	O
,	O
the	O
firm	O
announced	O
plans	O
to	O
launch	O
Zomato	B-Application
Infrastructure	O
Services	O
,	O
a	O
cloud	B-Architecture
kitchen	O
infrastructure	O
service	O
to	O
help	O
partner	O
restaurants	O
expand	O
their	O
presence	O
without	O
incurring	O
any	O
fixed	O
costs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
that	O
year	O
,	O
it	O
introduced	O
a	O
paid	O
membership	O
program	O
called	O
Zomato	B-Application
Gold	O
using	O
which	O
subscribers	O
could	O
get	O
offers	O
and	O
discounts	O
on	O
dining	O
and	O
food	O
delivery	O
at	O
Zomato	B-Application
's	O
partner	O
restaurants	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2018	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
shut	O
down	O
operations	O
of	O
Zomato	B-Application
Infrastructure	O
Services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
December	O
2018	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
launched	O
its	O
annual	O
multi-city	O
food	O
and	O
entertainment	O
carnival	O
called	O
Zomaland	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
March	O
2019	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
sold	O
its	O
UAE	O
food	O
delivery	O
business	O
to	O
Talabat	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
April	O
2020	O
,	O
due	O
to	O
a	O
fall	O
in	O
food	O
delivery	O
and	O
a	O
rising	O
demand	O
for	O
online	O
grocery	O
ordering	O
amid	O
the	O
COVID-19	O
pandemic	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
began	O
delivering	O
groceries	O
and	O
essentials	O
under	O
a	O
service	O
named	O
Zomato	B-Application
Market	O
in	O
80+	O
cities	O
across	O
India	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
May	O
2020	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
also	O
began	O
delivering	O
alcohol	O
in	O
West	O
Bengal	O
,	O
Jharkhand	O
and	O
Odisha	O
after	O
obtaining	O
the	O
permission	O
of	O
the	O
governments	O
in	O
these	O
states	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
May	O
2020	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
further	O
laid	O
off	O
520	O
employees	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
COVID-19	O
pandemic	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Zomato	B-Application
closed	O
operations	O
of	O
Zomato	B-Application
Market	O
in	O
June	O
2020	O
as	O
demand	O
for	O
food	O
delivery	O
recovered	O
and	O
grocery	O
delivery	O
business	O
"	O
was	O
not	O
scalable	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
July	O
2021	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
went	O
public	O
,	O
opening	O
its	O
initial	O
public	O
offering	O
at	O
a	O
valuation	O
of	O
over	O
8	O
billion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
November	O
2021	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
ceased	O
its	O
services	O
in	O
all	O
countries	O
except	O
India	O
and	O
the	O
United	O
Arab	O
Emirates	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
April	O
2022	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
launched	O
a	O
pilot	O
of	O
10-minute	O
food	O
delivery	O
in	O
Gurgaon	O
called	O
Zomato	B-Application
Instant	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
June	O
2022	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
announced	O
the	O
acquisition	O
of	O
quick-commerce	O
company	O
Blinkit	O
for	O
568	O
million	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
August	O
2022	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
launched	O
a	O
service	O
called	O
Intercity	O
Legends	O
in	O
Delhi	O
NCR	O
that	O
allowed	O
users	O
to	O
have	O
food	O
delivered	O
from	O
famous	O
restaurants	O
in	O
other	O
cities	O
within	O
a	O
few	O
days	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
November	O
2022	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
introduced	O
Zomato	B-Application
Pay	O
feature	O
,	O
which	O
allowed	O
users	O
to	O
make	O
payments	O
at	O
partner	O
restaurants	O
and	O
avail	O
offers	O
,	O
and	O
partner	O
restaurants	O
to	O
promote	O
themselves	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Circa	O
February	O
2023	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
ceased	O
operations	O
in	O
Australia	O
,	O
while	O
announcing	O
that	O
their	O
operations	O
in	O
India	O
and	O
the	O
UAE	O
were	O
continuing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Between	O
2010	O
and	O
2013	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
raised	O
approximately	O
from	O
Info	O
Edge	O
across	O
four	O
rounds	O
;	O
Info	O
Edge	O
held	O
a	O
57.9	O
%	O
stake	O
in	O
Zomato	B-Application
in	O
February	O
2013	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
November	O
2013	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
raised	O
37	O
million	O
from	O
Sequoia	O
Capital	O
and	O
Info	O
Edge	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
November	O
2014	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
completed	O
another	O
round	O
of	O
funding	O
of	O
60	O
million	O
at	O
a	O
post-money	O
valuation	O
of	O
~	O
US$660	O
million	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
February	O
2018	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
became	O
a	O
unicorn	O
startup	O
after	O
raising	O
200	O
million	O
from	O
Ant	O
Financial	O
at	O
a	O
valuation	O
of	O
1.1	O
billion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
October	O
2018	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
reported	O
that	O
it	O
would	O
raise	O
an	O
additional	O
$210	O
million	O
from	O
Ant	O
Financial	O
at	O
a	O
valuation	O
of	O
around	O
$2	O
billion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
September	O
2020	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
raised	O
$62	O
million	O
from	O
Temasek	O
,	O
after	O
previously	O
committed	O
investment	O
from	O
Ant	O
Financial	O
did	O
not	O
come	O
through	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
October	O
2020	O
,	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
a	O
Series	O
J	O
round	O
of	O
funding	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
raised	O
$52	O
million	O
from	O
Kora	O
,	O
a	O
US-based	O
investment	O
firm	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
February	O
2021	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
raised	O
250	O
million	O
from	O
five	O
investors	O
,	O
including	O
Tiger	O
Global	O
Management	O
,	O
at	O
a	O
valuation	O
of	O
5.4	O
billion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Zomato	B-Application
has	O
acquired	O
several	O
startups	O
globally	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
July	O
2014	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
made	O
its	O
first	O
acquisition	O
by	O
buying	O
MenuMania	O
for	O
an	O
undisclosed	O
sum	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
acquired	O
Seattle-based	O
food	O
portal	O
,	O
Urbanspoon	B-Application
,	O
for	O
an	O
estimated	O
US$60	O
million	O
in	O
2015	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
acquisitions	O
of	O
2015	O
include	O
Mekanist	O
in	O
an	O
all-cash	O
deal	O
,	O
the	O
Delhi-based	O
startup	O
MapleGraph	O
that	O
built	O
MaplePOS	O
(	O
renamed	O
Zomato	B-Application
Base	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
NexTable	O
,	O
a	O
US-based	O
table	O
reservation	O
and	O
restaurant	O
management	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2016	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
acquired	O
Gurgaon-based	O
technology	O
startup	O
Sparse	O
Labs	O
and	O
renamed	O
it	O
as	O
Zomato	B-Application
Trace	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Zomato	B-Application
claimed	O
that	O
the	O
acquisition	O
will	O
help	O
pave	O
the	O
way	O
towards	O
drone-based	O
food	O
delivery	O
in	O
India	O
,	O
building	O
technology	O
aimed	O
at	O
a	O
hub-to-hub	O
delivery	O
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
21	O
January	O
2020	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
acquired	O
its	O
rival	O
Uber	O
Eats	O
 '	O
business	O
in	O
India	O
in	O
an	O
all	O
stock	O
deal	O
,	O
giving	O
Uber	O
Eats	O
10%	O
of	O
the	O
combined	O
business	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
24	O
June	O
2022	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
acquired	O
Blinkit	O
(	O
formerly	O
Grofers	O
)	O
for	O
US$568	O
million	O
in	O
an	O
all-stock	O
deal	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
4	O
June	O
2015	O
,	O
an	O
Indian	O
security	O
researcher	O
hacked	O
the	O
Zomato	B-Application
website	O
and	O
gained	O
access	O
to	O
information	O
about	O
62.5	O
million	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Using	O
the	O
vulnerability	O
,	O
he	O
was	O
able	O
to	O
access	O
the	O
personal	O
data	O
of	O
users	O
such	O
as	O
telephone	O
numbers	O
,	O
email	O
addresses	O
,	O
and	O
Instagram	B-Application
private	O
photos	O
using	O
their	O
Instagram	B-Application
access	O
token	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Zomato	B-Application
fixed	O
the	O
issue	O
within	O
48	O
hours	O
of	O
it	O
becoming	O
apparent	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
18	O
May	O
2017	O
,	O
a	O
security	O
blog	O
called	O
HackRead	O
claimed	O
that	O
over	O
17	O
million	O
Zomato	B-Application
user	O
records	O
including	O
emails	O
and	O
password	B-Algorithm
hashes	I-Algorithm
had	O
been	O
stolen	O
due	O
to	O
a	O
security	O
breach	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
hacker	O
removed	O
the	O
stolen	O
user	O
data	O
from	O
the	O
dark	O
web	O
after	O
Zomato	B-Application
agreed	O
to	O
start	O
a	O
bug	O
bounty	O
program	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Feeding	O
India	O
was	O
acquired	O
by	O
Zomato	B-Application
in	O
July	O
2019	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
May	O
2022	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
claimed	O
that	O
Feeding	O
India	O
was	O
serving	O
over	O
200,000	O
meals	O
every	O
day	O
under	O
its	O
Daily	O
Feeding	O
Program	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
July	O
2019	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
received	O
a	O
customer	O
complaint	O
that	O
he	O
was	O
assigned	O
a	O
non-Hindu	O
delivery	O
boy	O
for	O
his	O
food	O
order	O
in	O
Jabalpur	O
and	O
had	O
asked	O
Zomato	B-Application
to	O
provide	O
a	O
Hindu	O
delivery	O
boy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
customer	O
alleged	O
that	O
Zomato	B-Application
had	O
refused	O
to	O
change	O
the	O
rider	O
after	O
which	O
he	O
asked	O
to	O
cancel	O
the	O
order	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
customer	O
then	O
posted	O
this	O
incident	O
on	O
Twitter	B-Application
,	O
after	O
which	O
Zomato	B-Application
responded	O
to	O
the	O
message	O
stating	O
:	O
"	O
Food	O
does	O
n't	O
have	O
a	O
religion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
's	O
response	O
received	O
positive	O
comments	O
on	O
Twitter	B-Application
,	O
but	O
some	O
customers	O
questioned	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
Jain	O
food	O
and	O
halal	O
tags	O
on	O
food	O
items	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
the	O
company	O
,	O
such	O
tags	O
are	O
placed	O
by	O
individual	O
restaurant	O
owners	O
,	O
and	O
not	O
by	O
Zomato	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
17	O
August	O
2019	O
,	O
more	O
than	O
1,200	O
restaurants	O
logged	O
off	O
from	O
Zomato	B-Application
because	O
of	O
their	O
offer	O
of	O
discount	O
programmes	O
at	O
dine-in	O
restaurants	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Pune	O
alone	O
,	O
more	O
than	O
450	O
restaurants	O
stopped	O
serving	O
to	O
Zomato	B-Application
Gold	O
because	O
of	O
aggressive	O
discounts	O
and	O
loss	O
of	O
business	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
premium	O
subscription-based	O
dining	O
out	O
service	O
Zomato	B-Application
Gold	O
had	O
6,500	O
restaurants	O
partners	O
and	O
a	O
total	O
of	O
1.1	O
million	O
subscribers	O
in	O
India	O
as	O
of	O
August	O
2019	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
campaign	O
,	O
around	O
2,500	O
restaurants	O
logged	O
out	O
from	O
the	O
Zomato	B-Application
Gold	O
service	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
Zomato	B-Application
made	O
some	O
changes	O
,	O
National	O
Restaurant	O
Association	O
of	O
India	O
still	O
refused	O
to	O
accept	O
the	O
modified	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
plan	O
,	O
saying	O
that	O
the	O
corrective	O
measures	O
would	O
not	O
resolve	O
the	O
key	O
issue	O
of	O
deep	O
discounts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
Zomato	B-Application
founder	O
Goyal	O
admitted	O
mistake	O
,	O
became	O
ready	O
to	O
rectify	O
it	O
and	O
called	O
for	O
sanity	O
and	O
truce	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
March	O
2021	O
,	O
a	O
video	O
was	O
posted	O
on	O
Instagram	B-Application
by	O
a	O
Bangalore-based	O
model	O
Hitesha	O
Chandranee	O
who	O
accused	O
Kamraj	O
,	O
a	O
Zomato	B-Application
delivery	O
executive	O
,	O
of	O
assaulting	O
her	O
as	O
she	O
refused	O
to	O
pay	O
money	O
for	O
the	O
food	O
which	O
was	O
delivered	O
late	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
the	O
post	O
went	O
viral	O
,	O
Bangalore	O
Police	O
arrested	O
Kamraj	O
while	O
Zomato	B-Application
temporarily	O
suspended	O
him	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
19	O
October	O
2021	O
,	O
#Reject_Zomato	O
trended	O
on	O
Twitter	B-Application
after	O
a	O
Zomato	B-Application
chat	O
support	O
executive	O
asked	O
a	O
customer	O
based	O
in	O
Chennai	O
,	O
Tamil	O
Nadu	O
to	O
learn	O
Hindi	O
,	O
falsely	O
claiming	O
that	O
it	O
was	O
India	O
's	O
national	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
founder	O
and	O
CEO	O
of	O
the	O
company	O
,	O
Deepinder	B-Application
Goyal	I-Application
,	O
posted	O
a	O
public	O
apology	O
on	O
Twitter	B-Application
but	O
also	O
said	O
in	O
a	O
later	O
post	O
,	O
"	O
The	O
level	O
of	O
tolerance	O
and	O
chill	O
in	O
our	O
country	O
needs	O
to	O
be	O
way	O
higher	O
than	O
it	O
is	O
nowadays	O
"	O
,	O
which	O
further	O
angered	O
Tamil	O
netizens	O
.	O
</s>
