Restaurant Discovery App Zomato Acquires Turkey’s Mekanist For Cash

Zomato, the Restaurant discovery service which competes with Yelp, has acquired Turkey’s Mekanist. The price was not disclosed but it has been confirmed as an all-cash deal. The move will take Zomato from covering 27,500 restaurants in Istanbul and Ankara to more than over 50,000 restaurants in Turkey.

The move is a sign that Zomato is prepared to take Yelp on in significant international markets outside the US. Juts read our previous coverage to see how this company is on a tear to race Yelp around the world.

Mekanist’s content and traffic will now be switched over to Zomato, where restaurants can also now use Zomato’s hyperlocal advertising target customers. The startup was founded by Eren Baydemir and Ali Servet Eyüboğlu.

In a statement Deepinder Goyal, founder and CEO of Zomato, said, “Mekanist has established itself as one of the heavyweights in the online restaurant search and discovery space in Turkey, and is one of the first and most successful tech startups to emerge from the Turkish startup ecosystem.”

The move follows an acquisition spree by Zomato, which has picked up five restaurant search companies in New Zealand, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Italy. The acquisition of Urbanspoon for about $52 million earlier this month, allowed Zomato to enter the US and Australia.

Founded in 2008, Zomato is also in Brazil, Chile, Lebanon and South Africa.

Zomato raised about $60 million last November in a round led by Info Edge (India) Limited and US-based investment fund Vy Capital, with participation from Sequoia Capital. It is understood to be raising further capital.

It’s restaurant search app core proposition is scanned menus, photos and contact details for restaurants. Users can rate and review restaurants, as well as create their own network of fellow foodies for personalised recommendations.

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