Zomato launches District, Swish's 10 min food delivery promise & GoZero's ₹40 Cr Ice Cream Playbook 💡
Insights into the consumption of the "new" India.
We are back with our new newsletter edition, which covers three important business topics in one go. Today, we discuss Zomato’s entry into the events space, Swish‘s (a 10-minute food app) $2M fundraise, and Go Zero’s ₹40 Crore playbook.
GrowthX’s four-week live growth program begins on Sunday, December 1st.
Applications are open, and we are down to the final two rounds of selection for the cohort. This is the program to learn from if you want to improve your skills in the four key pillars of growth: customer acquisition, onboarding, retention, and monetisation.
Zomato vs. BookMyShow: Event wars.
First, some context.
India’s online event space is getting hot. Currently, BookMyShow rules the space with a 60% market share and makes roughly ₹1,000 crores in yearly revenue, but Zomato is about to shake things up with its new app “District”, following its ₹2000+ crore acquisition of Paytm’s ticketing business last year.
What this means for Zomato?
If Zomato has nailed one thing, it’s diversification. From the rightly-timed acquisition of Blinkit to launching Hyperpure (B2B restaurant supply arm), Zomato’s bets have been working well.
Fact.
Blinkit is expected to outgrow Zomato’s core food business very soon. Zomato’s key insight behind was “ single superbrand works better than superapps ” Plus, Zomato has already dabbled in events with Zomaland and ZFIC (headlined by Dua Lipa) this year. Going onwards, these tickets might be exclusive to District.
What’s happening?
If the Diljit concert frenzy and the Coldplay fiasco taught us anything, it's this: offline events are only going to grow. Last year, India’s overseas travel hit an all-time high, along with Bollywood making a $1.3 Billion comeback, signaling a larger share of wallets shifting toward leisure & experiences. The macros are in the favor. So if Zomato replicates Blinkit success, this will be next big thing we use every weekend.
Swish - the new 10 min food delivery player 🛵
First, some context.
Swish - the 10 minute food delivery startup - raised $2M in a round led by Accel. This will heat up the 10-15 minute food delivery game which already has Zepto Cafe, Swiggy’s Bolt, and Zomato’s “everyday” service doing this.How does this model work?
So far most of the players have partnered with reliable reputed restaurants for limited SKUs to deliver this. For example - even brands like Rebel Foods & WOW Momos have already partnered with Swiggy’s Bolt and brands like Chayos & Blue Tokai have partnered with Zepto Cafe for some of their SKUs.
How is Swish different?
They own the “food-making” part too. The company is handling 150 to 200 daily orders at ~₹300 AOV and is only operating in Bengaluru. The company is using a “pod” cloud kitchen model that occupies 250 sq. ft. and delivers to areas within a 1.5 km radius.
Does 10 minute food delivery make sense?
In short, “YES!”. Quick commerce is evolving beyond “grocery essentials” into medicines and aspirational items like PS5s and iPhones. The 10-minute model isn’t here to replace traditional 30–40 min deliveries—great food takes time—but think of it as the digital version of 24/7 or Seven Eleven: perfect for quick bites, not the best gourmet experiences.
Last week my cook didn’t show up & I ordered through Swiggy Bolt in 6 freaking minutes - questioning wheather Swiggy is now competing with my cook.
Go Zero’s ₹4 Crore-a-month playbook 🍧
First, some context.
Go Zero - a healthy ice cream brand is making ₹4 crores a month only after 2 years of inception. The shocker? it’s a pure D2C brand that only works via Zomato/Swiggy & quick commerce. The brand is started by Kiran Shah — who has the experience of scaling his family brand “Apsara” to 100+ stores already.
What did they crack?
The answer lies in one word “product-channel fit”. Their success reiterates the power law that exist because of hero products. They did 2 things right:
Launching co-branded Zepto exclsuive SKUs. This solved for instant trust borrowing from Zepto’s core users who saw a new ice cream on the store.
Developing SKU basis whitespace on the channel. After discussions with Blinkit, Go Zero launched “Duet,” a product that filled a whitespace that the team identified on the platform. This SKU alone generates ₹75 lakhs in monthly revenue.
What is the ₹100 Cr. opportunity?
The ice cream space is heating up with players like Noto, Hocco, Get-A-Whey, and Minus 30 making their mark. But the real win lies in building a trust-driven moat. If Go Zero masters its health-first positioning, it’s only a matter of time before it expands into categories like chocolates, kulfis, and more—following The Whole Truth’s playbook.
By the way, this week, we hosted Kiran Shah, the founder of Go Zero, for our weekly deep dives. He shared insights on ace the quick commerce game as a DTC brand.
