Can Zomato serve $100b on the menu by 2030?

Deepinder Goyal sets the bar high. In an interview, the founder and CEO of Zomato, said that the India-based foodtech major aspires to be a US$100 billion company by 2030. He also said that the company could “easily” be making a profit of US$1 billion by then.

Photo credit: Zomato

It was not clear however if Goyal meant US$100 billion in market capitalization, revenue, or gross merchandise value (GMV). An industry source however tells Tech in Asia that it’s most likely revenue that Zomato is aiming at, adding that “it was said as rhetoric.”

Tech in Asia reached out to Zomato seeking details on a road map to achieve this feat, but the company declined to comment.

Can 13-year-old Zomato hit this target in the next seven years? Let’s look at its numbers more closely.

Checking the financial pulse

In the December quarter of FY2023, Zomato reported a 75% year-on-year revenue growth. Its adjusted revenue stood at 24 billion rupees (US$287.7 million) during the quarter.

It was US$674.9 million during the full financial year of 2022, a year-on-year jump of 109%.

Based on the FY2022 annual revenue, the company will have to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 104% to achieve its US$100 billion revenue target by 2030.

If we look at the company’s current revenue, “the target is really ambitious,” an online commerce analyst tells Tech in Asia. “It was said in a more indicative manner that the company is setting a high-growth path in the future. I don’t think he (the Zomato founder) really meant the numbers,” the person adds.

Photo credit: AFP

Another indicator of a company’s health is its GMV. Zomato had a gross order value (GOV) – its equivalent of GMV – of US$2.6 billion in FY2022.

The person quoted above says that the firm’s GOV will have to be 4x its target revenue as Zomato has a take rate of around 22% to 25%.

If we take this into consideration, the company will have to hit a GOV of US$400 billion by 2030. This appears an unattainable target if the company relies only on food delivery, as the overall Indian food delivery market together is only expected to hit US$19 billion in GMV by 2027.

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