Zomato: Friend or Foe?

Urbanspoon was acquired today by Zomato, a restaurant discovery platform based out of India for $60MM from IAC.

Through out the day, I have been munching my thoughts about this. It’s gets more complicated when I add my experiences as an ex-Urbanspoon employee to the mix.

Urbanspoon is a small company (around the size of 50 people). It’s almost like a family, with a very informal setup and was very welcoming when I joined in March 2013. It’s seen vast changes since then, in an effort to pull the pull the product out of inertia and catch up with other competitors in the space. Until then, it had relied heavily on loyal users acquired during the invention of the app store. It was a very disconcerting feeling as an analyst, to see declining trends in user growth, with efforts failing to gain momentum, and fears of content going stale.

With the personalization features available in apps like Foursquare and the sheer volume and spread in Yelp, I am not surprised that Urbanspoon is out of the running. In fact, I am secretly glad it was acquired, and its data can be put to good use! Zomato is an able competitor in this space with a slightly different strategy to keep information fresh. So it will make this market interesting to watch in the United States!

Nevertheless, a part of me is upset over the end of the Urbanspoon brand, the website and the apps, into which I and a lot others have spent so much time passionately working. I feel bad about the wonderful Urbanspoon family that’s about to be dismantled. The people there are some of the best I have ever worked with!

Oh well, it’s survival of the fittest. RIP Urbanspoon! You had your run, and gave your best shot! Hope Zomato uses your spirit well!