New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS): Food and restuarant discovery platform Zomato on Tuesday said that it had entered into strategic investments with Gurgaon-based Pickingo and Mumbai-based Grab, both hyper local delivery players, to enable last-mile delivery for restaurants including dine-in-only restaurants that don't otherwise deliver food.

Zomato has also partnered with Delhivery, the popular logistics startup that provides supply chain solutions to online and offline retailers.

Pickingo, which manages delivery for local merchants across six cities in India, has so far raised $1.3 million. Grab is a hyperlocal logistics service connecting neighborhood stores, restaurants & online platforms to deliver their products to the end consumers in minutes.

"This investment will not only infuse funds into the company but will also allow us to scale rapidly with Zomato's online ordering business, while also leveraging Zomato's strong relationship with restaurants across the country," said Pickingo co-founder Rahul Gill.

Since July 2014, Zomato has acquired 9 companies to further extend its global reach in the restaurant search space. This includes the acquisition of Urbanspoon, which gave it a dominant position in Australia, Canada, and the US.

"We have unequivocally the largest restaurant base in India and we will work closely with Pickingo, Grab, and Delhivery to improve the last-mile delivery experience for users placing orders online on Zomato. So far, restaurants have been delivering on their own, but with this partnership, we will be able to target restaurants across the country that don't otherwise deliver," said Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal.

"We are also launching our online ordering service in Dubai, Australia and South Africa later this month. Along similar lines, we are in conversation with hyperlocal logistics firms in other countries to ensure that we are able to provide a seamless and quality experience to our users there," he added.

Zomato had recently expanded its offering to include in-app cashless payments, online ordering, table reservations, and a point-of-sale system to help connect restaurant businesses and customers.

"Last mile logistics are a challenge for most merchants across India, especially restaurants, and we view this investment as a great opportunity to solve this problem using technology along with Zomato," said Grab co-founder Pratish Sanghvi.

"We have already rolled this out with Zomato in Mumbai, and will extend to other cities in the next couple of weeks. These are exciting times for food tech in India," he added.