Ahead of the launch of its District app, foodtech giant Zomato has strengthened its ‘going out’ vertical by bringing on board Kunal Khambhati, former head of live events and IP at BookMyShow.
Khambhati͏͏ spent͏͏ over͏͏ seven͏͏ years͏͏ at͏͏ BookMyShow,͏͏ overseeing͏͏ live͏͏ events͏͏ and͏͏ intellectual͏͏ property͏͏ development͏͏ across͏͏ markets͏͏ such͏͏ as͏͏ India,͏͏ Indonesia,͏͏ and͏͏ Sri͏͏ Lanka.͏͏ According͏͏ to͏͏ his͏͏ LinkedIn͏͏ profile,͏͏ he͏͏ left͏͏ the͏͏ company͏͏ in͏͏ April.
Sources͏͏ close͏͏ to͏͏ Zomato͏͏ confirmed͏͏ Khambhati’s͏͏ appointment͏͏ but͏͏ were͏͏ unable͏͏ to͏͏ confirm͏͏ his͏͏ exact͏͏ designation͏͏ in͏͏ the͏͏ new͏͏ role.
The͏͏ Arc͏͏ was͏͏ the͏͏ first͏͏ to͏͏ report͏͏ on͏͏ his͏͏ move͏͏ to͏͏ Zomato.
Khambhati͏͏ will͏͏ join͏͏ a͏͏ group͏͏ of͏͏ senior͏͏ executives͏͏ recently͏͏ brought͏͏ on͏͏ by͏͏ Zomato͏͏ to͏͏ strengthen͏͏ its͏͏ ‘going͏͏ out’͏͏ vertical.͏͏ In͏͏ July,͏͏ the͏͏ company͏͏ rehired͏͏ Rahul͏͏ Ganjoo͏͏ and͏͏ Pradyot͏͏ Ghate,͏͏ both͏͏ of͏͏ whom͏͏ had͏͏ left͏͏ in͏͏ 2023.͏͏ At͏͏ the͏͏ time,͏͏ it͏͏ was͏͏ reported͏͏ that͏͏ they͏͏ would͏͏ lead͏͏ the͏͏ ‘going͏͏ out’͏͏ business.
Launching͏͏ the͏͏ District͏͏ App͏͏ Soon:
Since͏͏ August,͏͏ Zomato͏͏ has͏͏ been͏͏ hinting͏͏ at͏͏ the͏͏ launch͏͏ of͏͏ its͏͏ new͏͏ ‘District’͏͏ app,͏͏ aimed͏͏ at͏͏ the͏͏ ‘going͏͏ out’͏͏ segment.͏͏ The͏͏ app͏͏ will͏͏ enable͏͏ users͏͏ to͏͏ discover͏͏ and͏͏ book͏͏ restaurants,͏͏ as͏͏ well͏͏ as͏͏ purchase͏͏ tickets͏͏ for͏͏ movies,͏͏ sports͏͏ events,͏͏ live͏͏ performances,͏͏ and͏͏ more.
Continue͏͏ Exploring:͏͏ Zomato to͏͏ introduce͏͏ new͏͏ ‘District’͏͏ app͏͏ for͏͏ going-out business
Zomato Acquires͏͏ Paytm͏͏ Ticketing͏͏ Business:
In͏͏ a͏͏ move͏͏ to͏͏ challenge͏͏ BookMyShow’s͏͏ dominance͏͏ in͏͏ the͏͏ live͏͏ events͏͏ space,͏͏ Zomato͏͏ acquired͏͏ Paytm’s͏͏ entertainment͏͏ ticketing͏͏ business͏͏ in͏͏ August͏͏ for͏͏ INR͏͏ 2,048͏͏ crore.
Continue͏͏ Exploring:͏͏ Zomato completes͏͏ acquisition͏͏ of͏͏ Paytm’s͏͏ event͏͏ and͏͏ movie͏͏ ticketing͏͏ subsidiaries
In͏͏ a͏͏ recent͏͏ interview͏͏ with͏͏ Moneycontrol,͏͏ Zomato͏͏ founder͏͏ and͏͏ CEO͏͏ Deepinder͏͏ Goyal͏͏ revealed͏͏ the͏͏ company’s͏͏ plans͏͏ to͏͏ upgrade͏͏ stadiums͏͏ across͏͏ the͏͏ country͏͏ to͏͏ enhance͏͏ the͏͏ customer͏͏ experience͏͏ in͏͏ the͏͏ live͏͏ events͏͏ space.
“We’ll͏͏ need͏͏ to͏͏ build͏͏ stadiums͏͏ at͏͏ some͏͏ point.͏͏ Otherwise,͏͏ the͏͏ songs,͏͏ artists,͏͏ and͏͏ overall͏͏ experience͏͏ won’t͏͏ be͏͏ truly͏͏ worthwhile.͏͏ While͏͏ we͏͏ won’t͏͏ create͏͏ a͏͏ Zomato͏͏ stadium͏͏ ourselves,͏͏ we͏͏ plan͏͏ to͏͏ partner͏͏ with͏͏ someone͏͏ to͏͏ propose͏͏ upgrades͏͏ to͏͏ the͏͏ infrastructure͏͏ and͏͏ give͏͏ the͏͏ stadium͏͏ a͏͏ facelift.͏͏ We͏͏ can͏͏ manage͏͏ the͏͏ capital͏͏ expenditure͏͏ and,͏͏ in͏͏ return,͏͏ request͏͏ 40͏͏ days͏͏ of͏͏ rent-free͏͏ use͏͏ each͏͏ year,”͏͏ he͏͏ stated͏͏ in͏͏ the͏͏ interview.
Rising͏͏ Demand͏͏ for͏͏ Live͏͏ Events͏͏ in͏͏ India:
It͏͏ is͏͏ important͏͏ to͏͏ note͏͏ that͏͏ the͏͏ live͏͏ events͏͏ sector͏͏ is͏͏ experiencing͏͏ significant͏͏ demand͏͏ in͏͏ the͏͏ country.͏͏ Zomato,͏͏ which͏͏ served͏͏ as͏͏ the͏͏ exclusive͏͏ ticketing͏͏ partner͏͏ for͏͏ Diljit͏͏ Dosanjh’s͏͏ ‘Dil-luminati͏͏ Tour͏͏ –͏͏ India’,͏͏ witnessed͏͏ tickets͏͏ selling͏͏ out͏͏ within͏͏ minutes͏͏ and͏͏ being͏͏ resold͏͏ at͏͏ exorbitant͏͏ prices͏͏ on͏͏ secondary͏͏ ticketing͏͏ platforms.͏͏ Similarly,͏͏ BookMyShow,͏͏ which͏͏ partnered͏͏ with͏͏ the͏͏ ‘Coldplay:͏͏ Music͏͏ Of͏͏ The͏͏ Spheres͏͏ World͏͏ Tour’,͏͏ experienced͏͏ the͏͏ same͏͏ trend.
Zomato͏͏ shares͏͏ closed͏͏ Tuesday’s͏͏ trading͏͏ session͏͏ up͏͏ 4.75%͏͏ at͏͏ INR͏͏ 279͏͏ on͏͏ the͏͏ BSE.
