MenuMania buy a boost for Zomato

Zomto NZ's Sahil Ludhani.

Online restaurant sourcing and review business Zomato is strengthening its market presence by acquiring rival New Zealand company MenuMania for an undisclosed sum.

Zomato New Zealand country manager Sahil Ludhani said the acquisition was part of a strategic move by the company to expand into the Pacific.

"MenuMania will be a big boost for Zomato's relatively new business in New Zealand. Combined, we will be able to offer our users a large number of reviews and menus, all in one place," Ludhani said.

Zomato was founded in India in 2008 by Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah, and has since set up in 11 other countries including New Zealand.

The company launched in Auckland and Wellington last July, followed by Hamilton in December.

The acquisition of nationwide MenuMania would expand Zomato's access across New Zealand.

MenuMania was set up in New Zealand in 2006 by Cristian Rosescu, who said he was excited by the opportunities that the company would have under Zomato.

"It's going to be an exciting next few months to integrate MenuMania with Zomato. We will be able to combine our local knowledge about the market, with the technology Zomato brings to the table," Rosescu said.

"It will also deliver greater value to local restaurant businesses, as all the users in NZ will have access to their information on a common platform now."

Zomato chief executive Deepinder Goyal said the collaboration would push Zomato into a leading position in their market space in New Zealand, as well as providing a popular local platform for the company to build on.

"The Menumania team is very passionate about restaurants and helping people discover new places to eat. We look forward to working closely with them to leverage their local expertise," Goyal said.

The integrated platform will be rolled out in the next few weeks.