ixigo has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a 51% stake in Zoop Web Services, a train food delivery service, for a total consideration of ₹12.54 crore including a non-compete fee, subject to completion of certain conditions precedent through a combination of secondary and primary share purchases.
Additionally, ixigo has the option to purchase the remaining stake in the future subject to fulfillment of certain conditions.
This acquisition will enable ixigo to enhance its services for train travelers by combining Zoop’s food delivery expertise with ixigo’s distribution reach & live train information to provide a seamless onboard dining experience to millions of train passengers across the country.
Founded in 2016 by Puneet Sharma and Manoj Kumar, Zoop is currently operating at 192 stations across India and partnered with around 400 select restaurants.
Zoop generated ₹7.65 crores in revenue in FY24 and is profitable. The train food delivery total addressable market opportunity exceeds $1 Billion, according to Zoop management estimates.
On the back of this acquisition, ixigo has launched a new “Food on Train” feature, enabling travellers to pre-order a wide selection of quality meals at 192 railway stations across India. Through this feature, users can browse & order high-quality meal options, enjoy direct delivery to their seats, track orders in real-time, and enjoy free cancellation before the cut-off time.
Food on Train has other features such as price lock on flights, nearby stations on trains and bus insights on buses.
Commenting on the acquisition, Aloke Bajpai, Group CEO & Rajnish Kumar, Group Co-CEO, ixigo, said, “The Zoop acquisition allows us to further enrich the experience for our train users. The tight integration of the delivery logistics with our large train user-base and the PNR status and crowdsourced train status data will help us deliver meals efficiently directly to the train berths of our users. This acquisition will open new opportunities for us to deepen our partnership with IRCTC, creating synergies to drive e-catering growth along with ticketing growth.”
