Menus, then delivery, then Blinkit. In 2025 the parent was renamed Eternal because grocery minutes had become too big to hide.
- Founded
- 2008 (FoodieBay)
- IPO
- July 2021, ₹9,375 crore
- As of 2021
- Uber Eats India
- Acquired 2020; Uber took ~9.99% stake
- Blinkit deal
- $568 million all-stock (₹4,447 crore)
- As of Closed Aug 2022
- Parent rename
- Zomato Ltd → Eternal Ltd
- As of Feb–Mar 2025
The beginning
Deepinder Goyal (IIT Delhi) and Pankaj Chaddah built FoodieBay in 2008 after Goyal, then at Bain, noticed colleagues leaving the office to scan restaurant menus downstairs. The first product was information: digitised menus, reviews, discovery. Delivery came later.
Pankaj Chaddah later left the company. Goyal remained the public founder and, through 2025, the group CEO. In January 2026 some reports described a CEO transition at Eternal; readers should treat leadership titles as time-stamped.
The problem
Eating out in Indian cities was an information problem (what’s on the menu, is it any good?) before it was a logistics problem (can it arrive hot?). Zomato solved the first, then had to learn the second when food delivery became the business.
The idea
Phase 1: content and discovery (menus, reviews, advertising to restaurants). Phase 2: food delivery marketplace. Phase 3: a portfolio — Blinkit (quick commerce), Hyperpure (B2B restaurant supply), District (going-out / ticketing).
Early execution
Zomato listed in July 2021 (price band ₹76; issue about ₹9,375 crore, mostly fresh capital). It had already bought Uber Eats India in 2020, concentrating food delivery into a Zomato–Swiggy duopoly.
In June 2022 the board approved buying Blinkit (Blink Commerce) for about $568 million in stock; the deal closed 10 August 2022. SoftBank and Tiger Global, large Blinkit holders, received Zomato shares.
Business model
How value moves
- Zomato app: restaurant commission, delivery fees, ads, subscriptions (Gold).
- Blinkit: high-frequency grocery / essentials, dark stores, delivery fees, ads.
- Hyperpure: B2B ingredients to restaurants (and, for a period, to Blinkit).
- District: events and going-out.
Growth strategy
Growth playbook: content → transactions → frequency. Menus created users; delivery created orders; Blinkit created multiple orders per week. Buying Uber Eats bought share. Buying Blinkit bought a category.
Major milestones
2008
FoodieBay founded.
2010
Rebrand to Zomato.
2020
Uber Eats India acquired.
Jul 2021
IPO.
Aug 2022
Blinkit acquisition closes.
Feb 2025
Parent to be renamed Eternal Limited.
Challenges, failures and adaptation
Goyal has spoken publicly about a hard post-acquisition conversation with Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa, including asking him to step down twice. Integration is people, not only a stock-swap ratio.
Hyperpure’s economics shifted when Blinkit began sourcing more of its own inventory — a reminder that “synergy” inside a group can also cannibalise a sister P&L.
GMI analysis
The following is Grow My India’s interpretation of documented information. It is not a statement by the company.
What we can learn
Start with the information bottleneck.
How to apply it. If customers cannot compare options, publish the comparison (menus, prices, proof). Transactions follow information.
Buy share only when it ends a war.
How to apply it. Uber Eats India was a consolidation. Copy that logic only if a merger actually removes a subsidising rival.
Let the new engine rename the company.
How to apply it. If 40%+ of growth sits in a new line, say so on the homepage and in the pitch. Do not hide it under the old brand.
Sources & references
Research updated September 2026. Time-sensitive figures are dated in the story. Publicly unavailable claims are omitted rather than invented.
- Letter from our Founder — Eternal, 2025
- Eternal Limited — Wikipedia, 2026
- Zomato completes Blinkit acquisition — Moneycontrol, 2022
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