How an Indian startup shortens the last mile for restaurateurs with fresh funding

While ordering food from restaurants is now as easy as making a quick call or clicking a few buttons on an app, what happens when it’s not delivered on time? Perhaps Birdy’s was late when you were craving chocolate mousse, or Smokin’ Joe’s pizza had gone lukewarm by the time it showed up. For restauranteurs, Grab offers a solution to capitalize on customers who want their food in a blink.

Restaurants no longer require their own delivery staff. All deliveries are made by employees of Grab, a Mumbai-based startup that picks up food from a restaurant and delivers it to the customer’s doorstep.

Besides Mumbai, establishments in Pune will be at an advantage. Today Grab announced that it has raised US$1 million from Oliphans Capital and angel investor Haresh Chawla to expand its services to Pune (it currently operates only in Mumbai).

“Home delivery orders are a significant portion of a restaurant’s turnover. However, managing last-mile delivery is tough. We have developed technology to ensure the operational execution. It also reduces the restaurant’s own delivery cost,” says Grab co-founder Pratish Sanghvi.

The two-year-old startup has a team of 500 smart riders on the roll to ensure that food is delivered in 40 minutes from the time a customer places an order at the restaurant. It plans on deploying 1,000 riders in Pune enabling it to deliver approximately 8,000 orders daily across 1,000 outlets.

It works with 350 restaurants in Mumbai including the biggies like Mainland China, Subway, Punjab Grill, Cocoberry, Maroosh, Theobroma, Busago, Cafe Mangii, Torrp it Up, Zaafran, and many more. It claims to have delivered orders worth a total of INR 350 million (US$5 million) last year.

A restaurant using Grab’s services can track and share precise delivery time with the customer.

Food ordering and delivery startups have been hot in India this year. Recently, Bangalore-based food ordering and delivery app Swiggy raised US$2 million from Accel Partners and SAIF Partners. The Swiggy app accepts orders from users and has 150 delivery personnel who pick up food from restaurants and deliver it to customers.

However, Grab is a pure play delivery startup that does not take the onus of getting orders for restauranteurs. “Hyper-local logistics remains our focus. The attention on execution is Grab’s biggest strength,” says co-founder Nishant Vora.

The startup has also gone on to tap into the tiffin delivery segment predominantly run by Mumbai’s famous dabbawallahs (tiffin delivery boys). However, unlike the dabbawallahs Grab can deliver your tiffin at night, too.