Zomato acquires Lucknow-based TechEagle to start delivering food through drones

With an aim to deliver food via drones in India, online ordering app Zomato on Wednesday announced it has acquired a Lucknow-based startup TechEagle Innovations that works exclusively on drones, for an undisclosed sum. TechEagle will help Zomato create a hub-to-hub delivery network powered by hybrid multi-rotor drones, the company said in a statement. “We are currently at the early stage of aerial innovations and are taking baby steps towards building a tomorrow wherein users can expect a drone to deliver the food they ordered online,” said Deepinder Goyal, Founder and CEO, Zomato. TechEagle was founded in 2015 by IIT-Kanpur alumnus Vikram Singh Meena. “Our first ‘delivery job’ currently is to design multi-rotor drones that can pick up a payload under 5 kg and set up drone delivery circuits for reducing the last mile delivery leg,” added Goyal. Zomato has over 75,000 restaurant partners offering food delivery services across over 100 cities in India. It acquired Runnr last year and currently has over 1.5 lakh delivery partners as part of its last mile delivery fleet. “We are excited to be a part of the team and together build something which will certainly play a significant role in the future of primary and secondary logistics in the food supply chain in India,” added Meena. The acquisition came after Zomato announced earlier this week that Durga Raghunath, currently Chief Executive Indian Express Digital Media Services, will be joining the company as Senior Vice President-Growth, effective 21 December.