BANGALORE: It is a world known fact that Indians are big foodies and food is considered a religion in the nation. Considering that the entrepreneurs are pouring in huge amount of money in the food space to tap into the increasingly profitable sector.

Lately the online food fad has taken the country by startup storm and the industry has witnessed an increase of 93 percent of investment inflow and currently stands at $130.3 Mn, reports Business Standard.

The leading startup in this space offer food ordering, booking tables at restaurants and presenting the best places to dine in.

The period from January to September 2015 has been quite fruitful for the food tech start-ups in India and is reported to have attracted $130.3 Mn in this period, as per Chennai-based Venture Intelligence. The year 2013 and 2014 had brought deals worth $42.06 Mn and $67.7 Mn respectively.

The leading deals of this year includes $60 million by Temasek and Vy Capital into Zomato, $16.25 Mn by Sequoia Capital, Nexus Venture Partners and Matrix Partners into TinyOwland, $16.5 Mn by SAIF, Norwest, Accel and DST Global in Swiggy.

Analysts are of the view that this new in the food sector in India is likely to stay for 5 years and  Zomato, Momoe, DineOut, Quinto, BigBasket, Fresh Menu,  Eatlo, HalfTeaSpoon and ChefHost are expected to be the leading players.

"We have seen immense growth in the last one year in Mumbai. TinyOwl has partnered more than 4,000 restaurants," Harshvardhan Mandad, co-founder, TinyOwl, said recently.

"There is huge potential and more start-ups will grow substantially over the next five years with slight changes in the business model. They may be acquired early," said Vikram Gupta, founder and managing partner of IvyCap Ventures.

eCommerce in India has emerged as the next big thing in India owing to fast growing number of internet users. This rise has thus benefitted these food startups yet the logistics is a challenge to be met.

This year the online food delivery witnessed a surge by 40 pct to Rs 350 cr and contributed to 17 pct of the ecommerce, as per the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). Investment worth $11 Mn by the Roadrunnr and new acquisition of BigBasket has boosted this growth.

"There will be significant value creation in online food ordering, and a mobile-only approach is the way to win. TinyOwl is a part of our broader portfolio of investments in local services and this will be an important area," said Rishi Navani, co-founder and managing director, Matrix India.

Considering the attractive deals and food people are switching to these startups for ordering food. "We are staying away. One of the things we look at it is a business should have backward integration," said Sarath Naru, managing partner of Ventureast.

Yet another test faced is the valuation in the segment. "They are seeking valuation of three years from now. But competition is also increasing. People are realizing if you are looking at 20 companies, you do not necessarily have to work with the one seeking the biggest valuation," said a venture capital investor.

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