Domino’s owner Jubilant FoodWorks acquires 35% stake in ‘Thrive’ owner Hashtag Loyalty

Thrive, a food ordering platform has led the ‘Order Direct’ campaign against Swiggy and Zomato.

Jubilant FoodWorks (JLF), the master franchise of Domino’s and Dunkin Donuts in India, has acquired a 35% stake worth Rs 24.75 crore in Hashtag Loyalty Private Limited as per the company’s exchange filing.

Hashtag Loyalty,a food tech company, is the owner of ‘Thrive’, a food ordering platform that lets people order food directly from the restaurant than through food delivery cos.

This investment reflects the Company’s intent of making strategic investments in promising start-ups and emerging businesses and is in line with the stated goal of building a multi-brand and multi-country food business powered by technology said JLF in the filing.

Dhruv Dewan, Thrive's co-founder, wrote in a LinkedIn post:

I'm glad to announce that Thrive Now has raised funds from Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd. to help restaurants deliver directly to their customers.

The funds will be used to bring on more restaurants, improve our product and expand the team. The pandemic has led to a rapid realisation by many restaurateurs that their heavy reliance on aggregators is not beneficial. With many of them forced to rely entirely on delivery and takeaway business during the pandemic, there’s been a rapid shift to move away from aggregators.

We’ve always wanted to bring on partners that can not only provide us with growth capital but also help us strategically. Domino’s India, part of the Jubilant Foodworks portfolio has pioneered direct ordering in India and we can look back at their learnings and expertise that they’ve built and unbundle it for the entire restaurant industry. This is a super exciting prospect for us and JFL.

Also Read: Restaurants look to reclaim food delivery space from Swiggy and Zomato by getting the 'Order Direct'

Restaurants, for a while, have been trying to reclaim the food delivery space from the likes of Zomato and Swiggy because of high commissions and refusal to share customer data.

The Order Direct campaign was a reaction to these issues and Hashtag Loyalty’s Thrive along with DotPe are leading this charge against food delivery giants.