Zomato Adds Minority Stakes in UrbanPiper, Adonmo Through NBFC

India-based food delivery app Zomato has unveiled an unnamed, non-banking financial company (NBFC) and invested in ad technology firm Adonmo and B2B software platform UrbanPiper Technology, part of its quest to dole out $1 billion to startups, moneycontrol.com reported Friday (Jan. 28).

Zomato’s NBFC will allow the company to offer credit to its stakeholders, including customers, restaurants and delivery partners, according to the report.

The company invested $5 million in UrbanPiper as part of a $24 million fundraising round, good for a 19% stake in the platform, and $15 million in Adonmo, equal to a 5% stake, the report stated.

“Both UrbanPiper and Adonmo investments are synergistic to our core business and will help accelerate growth of these companies which will help in filling important gaps in the food ordering and delivery ecosystem in India,” Zomato said in a statement, per the report.

The company said 80% of restaurants use manual processes to process order deliveries, which can delay orders and lead to errors in processing, according to the report. UrbanPiper’s software allows restaurants to integrate with multiple players through one digital interface, boosting restaurants’ capacity to deliver food to customers. UrbanPiper said it processes 12 million orders per month at more than 23,000 restaurant locations across India.

Adonmo brings targeted digital advertising to outdoor cloud-connected digital screens, the report stated.

In August, Zomato launched a payments service called Zomato Payments, which incorporates payment aggregator and gateway services and handles all kinds of electronic and virtual payment systems, including eWallets, mobile wallets and cash cards.

Read more: India’s Delivery App Zomato to Launch Payments Service

Zomato Payments features a payment and settlement system along with prepaid and post-paid tools through closed or semi-closed payment instruments and a direct debit facility on mobile phones. Its mobile-based solutions allow users to pay for goods and services or utility bills.