Tag: service

Indian ride-hailing giant, Ola – which saw its valuation cut to $2 billion by Vanguard earlier this month, is jumping into the quick commerce game — more specifically into the quick food delivery space. It today announced ‘Dash’, a 10 minute quick delivery service in the food space — a model that is highly debated, specially over what quality of food one can get served in 10 minutes. Along with this, it has also announced nationwide expansion of its food services ‘Ola Food’ with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a government initiative to provide an open network for exchanging goods and services digitally.

At present, the Dash service is being launched in Bengaluru,. With the government-run Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) – gaining massive popularity among startups and major conglomerates like Adani and Reliance – Ola is now trying to leverage its combined scale, efficiency, and cost savings.

Founded in 2010 and becoming a unicorn in 2015, Ola Consumer (previously ‘Ola Cabs’) has announced plans to deploy 100,000 electric two-wheelers over the next two years as part of its efforts to drive electrification in ride-hailing. Interestingly, this announcement comes at a time when India’s consumer regulator, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), is investigating (formally initiated on November 6, 2024) Ola Electric – debuted with IPO in August this year – over unresolved customer complaints. However, in its defense, Ola Electric claimed it had resolved 99.1% of the reported complaints to customers’ satisfaction.

Ola Food Expansion Plan

Speaking about Ola Food, this latest expansion will increase its operational presence to 100 cities. Backed by SoftBank, Tiger Global, Matrix Partners (now Z47), Temasek, and more, Ola Consumer – which neared 1 lakh daily orders on ONDC in August this year – is also looking to boost these numbers with subscription-free deals, offering 10 times more OlaCoins and other benefits.

If this is not enough, Ola Consumer’s new initiative – Dash – will offer freshly prepared food delivered in just 10 minutes. The company also claims that Dash delivers from a curated selection of nearby restaurants. With a pilot launch in Bengaluru, the Bhavish Aggarwal-led company plans to expand this service to other cities in the coming months.

“India’s quick commerce landscape is at a pivotal moment, driven by technology and ever-evolving consumer needs. With the Pan-India expansion of Ola Food and the launch of Dash in Bengaluru, on ONDC, we’re offering a faster, more affordable, and seamless food delivery experience. This expansion reflects our commitment to democratising commerce, leveraging ONDC’s open network to make quality services accessible to all.”, Bhavish Aggarwal, Chairman & Managing Director of Ola Consumer said while commenting on the latest development.

Blinkit pilots 10-minute ambulance service, starting with Gurugram

February 23, 2025

Jeff Prescott

10-minute ambulance service blinkit blinkit ambulance blinkit ambulance service News Startups No Comments

Quick commerce startup Blinkit – acquired by Zomato in 2022 – has now debuted a 10-minute ambulance service, allowing users to access it through the app. After groceries, fashion items, printing documents, stationery, and more, Blinkit has announced this new service. Currently being rolled out as a pilot, the service is expected to expand in a phased manner.

Blinkit – which posted a revenue of ₹1,156 crore in Q2 FY25 – has initially launched its new 10-minute ambulance service in Gurugram. For now, the service will be available in the city with five ambulances. Each ambulance under this new service will come with a paramedic, an assistant, and a trained driver.

Additionally, these ambulances will be equipped with essential life-saving equipment, including oxygen cylinders, an Automated External Defibrillator (AED), a stretcher, a monitor, a suction machine, and necessary emergency medicines and injections.

“We are taking our first step towards solving the problem of providing quick and reliable ambulance service in our cities. The first five ambulances will be on the road in Gurugram starting today. As we expand the service to more areas, you will start seeing an option to book a Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulance through the Blinkit app,” Dhinsa wrote in his post.

However, CEO Albinder Dhindsa also mentioned that the service will expand to all major cities within the next two years. In his post, a photo displays a price tag of Rs 2,000. More importantly, the photo also includes a line stating a condition that neonatal or ventilator care is not supported.

Originally founded as a grocery delivery platform, Grofers, back in 2013 – Blinkit now operates in around 44 cities across the country, including tier-II cities like Haridwar, Jodhpur, Mohali, and Rohtak, among others. Speaking about its financials, Blinkit reported impressive growth in the September quarter of the financial year 2024-25 (Q2 FY25), with revenue more than doubling from ₹505 crore to ₹1,156 crore. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, revenue surged by 23%, rising from ₹942 crore.

Going forward, Blinkit plans to expand its network to 1,000 dark stores by the end of the financial year 2024-25, with an aim to double this number by 2026. Notably, Zomato initiated its Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) issue in November 2024, aiming to raise ₹8,500 crore (~$1 billion). This move becomes even more significant as the funds raised through the QIP will primarily support the company’s quick commerce unit – Blinkit.

This development comes at a time when the Indian quick commerce sector is witnessing intensified competition, with major giants, including Amazon, eyeing entry into the market. This will further raise the bar for Blinkit and its current rivals – Zepto, BigBasket, Swiggy Instamart, and others. Meanwhile, the Indian quick commerce market is valued at $3.34 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach $9.95 billion within the next five years, with a CAGR of over 4.5% during this period.

Zomato is back with 15-mins food delivery service

February 23, 2025

Jeff Prescott

food delivery instant food delivery News quick food delivery Startups Zomato zomato quick delivery No Comments

After scrapping the 10-minute food delivery service in 2023, Zomato has re-entered the instant food delivery market in 2025. The homegrown food-tech giant has reportedly launched a 15-minute food delivery service in select cities. This comes as its biggest rival in the country, Swiggy, launched its quick food delivery service – ‘Bolt’ – in October 2024. For now, Zomato’s new quick food delivery service is reportedly live in parts of Delhi-NCR.

The Gurugram-based company is planning to rapidly scale up this new service across the city. However, neither the company nor CEO Deepinder Goyal has confirmed this development yet. Under this new service offering, the Zomato app displays restaurants within a limited radius of 1.5–2 km for orders.

With this fresh development, Zomato may seem to be competing with its own quick commerce arm, Blinkit – which was acquired in 2022. Notably, last month, Blinkit launched a new standalone app – Bistro. This is also a quick commerce food delivery service. Using this app, users can order snacks and beverages and receive delivery in 15 minutes.

In the business sector, quick commerce has emerged as a new hot trend, much like AI in the tech sector. In India, the quick commerce industry is expected to reach $9.95 billion by 2029. It is also estimated to have around 60.6 million users by 2029, a significant increase from approximately 26.2 million in 2024.

Interestingly, in the quick commerce industry, primarily dominated by grocery deliveries, the instant food delivery culture is also rapidly gaining popularity. There are several significant players in this sector in India, including Zomato’s Bistro, Swiggy’s Bolt, Dash (Ola Consumer), and Magicpin’s MagicNOW. Among them, Zepto Cafe is also a prominent player, offering 10-minute food delivery since 2022. Last month, the company’s co-founder Aadit Palicha claimed that Zepto Cafe is adding 100 cafes a month and is currently clocking 30,000 orders a day.

Even though the 10-15 minute food delivery service has also attracted a lot of criticism over food quality and health concerns, it hasn’t stopped big giants from betting on it. According to a JM Financial report, India’s online food delivery market is expected to more than double, reaching $15 billion by March 2029.

In November 2024, Zomato completed its $1 billion Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) fundraising. The significance of this fund increases further as a major chunk of the proceeds will be deployed to expand Blinkit’s network of dark stores and warehouses. Talking about Zomato’s financials, it recorded a 389% year-on-year surge in net profit for the second quarter of FY25, reaching ₹176 crore. Meanwhile, it also reported a 68% increase in revenue, reaching ₹4,799 crore for the same period. Additionally, the company has $1.3 billion in cash reserves.

Ola Food Expansion Plan

Navigation