DineOut; Another Zomato or Is there Something More?

DineOut is an online table reservation website which enables the customer to book a table, online and through the phone, restaurants in the Delhi NCR region. It also provides them exclusive discounts for usage of the service, which their users can avail at the restaurant.DineOut went live in February this year, and currently caters to Delhi/NCR region. The startup claims to have "partnered with more than 200 of the top restaurants in the city and seating approximately 8,000 diners a month at their partner restaurants."

The Founders

Dineout was co-founded by Ankit Mehrotra, Sahil Jain, Nikhil Bakshi and Vivek Kapoor.

Ankit, an Investment Banker by profession, worked with BNP Paribas in London for 6 years and obtained his CFA charter before moving back to India in

Sep 2011 to start DineOut.Sahil an IIM graduate, specializing in marketing was working in the Online Marketing & Analytics industry in the US before he quit his job and moved back to India to start DineOut with Ankit.

Vivek, being a mariner has used similar sites on foreign shores during his sailing days & has provided invaluable input in making DineOut the one stop dining out solution provider. Nikhil was manager of the institutional sales team at DSP BlackRock before quitting his job and joining DineOut.

Angel Funding from Travel Boutique

DineOut recently raised angel round of funding from the founders of Travel Boutique online, a B2B online travel agency and Mediology Software.

With this $120,000 investment, DineOut plans to reach 15,000 bookings a month by March 2013. They will use these funds to upgrade their technology, launch their mobile apps as well as launch in Mumbai and Bangalore next year. Furthermore, the startup is also looking to launch a new vertical in the banquet space for the party season this year. This vertical aims to specifically cater to corporates and the wedding parties.

David and Goliath; DineOut and Zomato

Zomato is a more established player in this field and has done many things that DineOut aims to do. However, this is a nascent industry and with increasing internet penetration, there should be room for one more in this field and DineOut is slightly different in that it uses its own platform for reservations as opposed to plain information presented on Zomato. Furthermore, Indians love discounts and DineOut just might be onto something here.

With a clear cut vision for the next quarter and a strong leadership team, it will be interesting to see how this battle pans out.

Want to Dine Out in Delhi? Click here.