We have partnered with more than 3,500 restaurants: TinyOwl

We have seen a good number of online food, table reservation and restaurant review website being launched in the last two years. What has brought this trend in the Indian F&B industry?

Many factors are driving the current trend in the Indian F&B industry. Factors like high internet penetration, smartphone growth giving easy access to internet and the emergence of online food sector have defined/revolutionised the way people consume food.

Tell us about TinyOwl’s business model. How did the idea to start this venture come about?

At TinyOwl, users order from their restaurant, pay via cash or card, then the order gets placed and finally, the restaurant delivers it. TinyOwl takes cut on each order they give. We are also building technology for restaurants, which will help them in increasing their productivity and sales.

Before starting TinyOwl, we were working on the concept ‘What to eat?’ because many times it happens that we want to eat something/order something, but we are not able to decide. We were trying to solve that problem and now, it has been solved by TinyOwl.

What kind of tie-up and revenue sharing arrangement you have with restaurants listed on your website?

Generally we charge between 10-20 per cent on per order basis.

How do you ensure quality and delivery?

We ensure quality and delivery by doing partnerships with good restaurants who want to provide quality and service to people.

You are currently present in Mumbai? What are your plans on entering to other cities?

We are planning to enter other metro cities by mid 2015.

How many restaurants have you partnered with? Are there any discounts, if it is ordered through your website?

We have partnered with more than 3,500 restaurants in Mumbai. We don't run much discount, but for first time user, there are some discounts and then we re-engage the user in many ways.

What is the payment model? Does the money gets credited to the restaurants or do you pay them later?

If user has opted for cash on delivery (COD), then it is directly taken by restaurants in other cases where card is used and then we pay to the restaurants later.

What is the investment so far? Who funded the same?

We have raised $3 million from Sequoia Capital and Nexus Venture Partners.

Where will you be using the raised investment?

We are going to enter more cities with this fund. We will invest the same in technology, which will help us improve the restaurant industry.