This marks the end of an era for one of India’s most recognisable consumer internet firms. Here’s a look at how it all started.
Zomato’s beginnings
Zomato was founded in 2008 by Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah, then colleagues at the global consulting firm Bain. The idea behind the startup was simple: to create an online platform that hosted restaurant menus and reviews, making it easier for people to decide where to eat.
Initially, the company was called Foodiebay. In 2010, it was renamed Zomato, and soon became synonymous with eating out and ordering food online in India.
In its early years, food delivery was not part of Zomato’s strategy. The founders were content positioning it as a restaurant search and discovery platform. That changed in January 2015, when rival Foodpanda acquired several delivery startups, including TastyKhana and Just Eat India.
Once it became clear that Foodpanda had scaled the delivery business, Zomato had little choice but to move quickly. A small team already working on delivery was asked to speed things up, and shortly thereafter, the company started delivering orders.
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The Zomato IPO
Eleven years after it was founded, Zomato became a listed company in 2021.
At the time, in an interview with ET, Goyal had said that the company’s IPO had not been planned in advance. Instead, it was a “desperate contingency plan” triggered by the most severe crisis the food delivery firm had ever faced, he said.
As Zomato grappled with the first wave of Covid lockdowns, it was hit by a change in foreign direct investment rules. The new regulations barred Chinese investors such as Ant Financial from backing Indian companies. This came as a major blow, leaving Zomato with a cash runway of just six months. Under the circumstances, an IPO appeared to be the only option.
Also Read: Five takeaways from Zomato’s IPO filing
Zomato listed at Rs 115 on the BSE, a premium of 51.3% over the IPO price of Rs 76, and went as much as 81% over the issue price to log a day’s high of Rs 138. It ended at Rs 125.85, up 65.6% over the issue price. When its market cap briefly crossed Rs 1 lakh crore during the day, Zomato was catapulted into the elite club of the 50 most highly valued companies.
That September, Zomato also won the Economic Times Startup of the Year award.
Blinkit acquisition and controversy
In June 2024, Zomato’s board of directors approved the acquisition of Blinkit, formerly known as Grofers, in an all-stock deal. The transaction was valued at Rs 4,447 crore, then close to $570 million — nearly 43% lower than Blinkit’s last valuation of just over $1 billion.
The deal triggered controversy, particularly around its pricing and potential conflict of interest. Blinkit founder and CEO Albinder Dhindsa was a former Zomato employee, and his spouse was a cofounder at the food delivery firm.
Addressing these concerns, Goyal said the company had “objectively evaluated” all options available in the quick commerce space.
In a letter to shareholders, he wrote: “We objectively evaluated all available acquisition opportunities in the quick commerce space and after zeroing in on Blinkit, we ensured that rigorous and detailed due diligence, deliberations, and negotiations were done before agreeing to the terms of the transaction (like any other company would do for a large and important transaction).”
What’s in a name: Zomato becomes Eternal
In March 2025, Zomato confirmed that the Ministry of Corporate Affairs had approved the company’s name change to Eternal Limited, with effect from March 20, 2025.
This marked the second time the company had done this, signalling its evolution from a food discovery platform to a broader consumer internet business with interests spanning food delivery, quick commerce, and beyond.
Also Read: What next for Deepinder Goyal? A look at his ventures beyond the Eternal universe
