Getting Bigger: Zomato Buys Mekanist, A Turkey Based Restaurant Search Service

Zomato Media Pvt Ltd has acquired Turkey’s popular restaurant research service firm Mekanist for an undisclosed amount. This is Zomato’s second acquisition this month after Urbanspoon which was acquired for $52 Mn to enter the US and Australian markets only a couple of weeks ago.

Post this acquisition Zomato’s restaurant reach will increase from 27,500 restaurants in Istanbul and Ankara to more than 50,000 restaurants across Turkey.

Deepinder Goyal, founder and CEO, Zomato, said, “Mekanist has established itself as one of the heavyweights in the online restaurant search and discovery space in Turkey. Mekanist is one of the first and most successful tech startups to emerge from the Turkish startup ecosystem,”

The Mekanist app users will now be able to use Zomato’s website and apps available in Turkish and English. Zomato will provide hyperlocal advertising model to restaurants, and target customers searching for restaurants in and around their location.

It has a team of 27 people in Turkey mostly based out of the local headquarters in Istanbul.

Earlier, Zomato has also acquired Italy-based web and mobile restaurant search services startup Cibando Ltd. and four other companies, including MenuMania in New Zealand; Lunchtime in the Czech Republic; Obedovat in Slovakia; and Gastronauci in Poland.

Founded in 2008, New Delhi-based Zomato was founded by IIT Delhi alumni and ex-Bain employees Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah. An online and mobile restaurant discovery service, Zomato provides information such as menus, directions, contact details, pictures and user reviews for over 310,000 restaurants. The company claims to get around 35 Mn visits per month across its website and mobile app.

Earlier in last year, Zomato has raised more than $113 Mn, over multiple rounds of funding from Info Edge, Vy Capital and Sequoia Capital.