The founders of Waayu state that the brand eyes scaling to around 25,000 to 30,000 orders a day by the end of the current fiscal year
Waayu, a zero-commission food delivery application, is eyeing to capitalise on the loopholes of the models adopted by the current players in the food delivery aggregator ecosystem. Mandar Lande, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and Anirudha Kotgire, Co-founder and Managing Director (MD) of Waayu, highlight that the brand is aiming to expand its presence to over 25 cities with over one lakh restaurants onboard by the end of the current financial year (FY26).
Currently, it has a presence in eight cities across the country and has partnered with over 5,000 restaurants. With Waayu clocking over 1,000 orders per day at this point, it seeks to scale to around 25,000 to 30,000 orders a day by the time the current fiscal year bids farewell. In an interview with BW Retail World, the founders shared insights on how the brand seeks to disrupt the food delivery ecosystem, growth plans, future fundraising plans as well as the current state of competition in the industry.
Subscription-based Model
While Waayu offers a zero-commission-based model, it does have two subscription-based models. The brand charges Rs 4,650 as one-time setup fees and Rs 1,200 per month per outlet for restaurants. Apart from this, the brand charges a zero one-time setup fee and Rs 2,000 per month per outlet for restaurants. The founders noted that restaurants, whether they have single or multiple outlets, can opt for any of the above subscription models based on their choice.
“When we say that we are India’s first and currently the only zero commission app as far as the food industry is concerned, where the amount which is received by the customer flows directly into the restaurant owner’s account. So, we provide flat software subscription irrespective of the volume of business,” Kotgire added.
Kotgire explained that the subscription model puts them in a very different perspective as far as the restaurant and this relationship is concerned, as the brand is not into the transaction.
Eyeing Third-biggest Aggregator Spot
Having expanded to over four cities in the past couple of weeks, Waayu has been doubling down on the expansion front and is currently onboarding over 200 restaurants every week. The founders state that the brand is eyeing to become the third biggest aggregator after Swiggy and Zomato.
“The pace of onboarding restaurants has also increased drastically. We are onboarding 200-plus restaurants every week now. And we would see these numbers getting better and better. And by the end of the year, we plan to expand to 25-plus cities with one lakh plus restaurants on board, and doing 25 to 30,000 orders daily,” Lande stated.
Noting that Waayu does not see Swiggy and Zomato as competitors and is capitalising on the loopholes of those models, Lande mentioned the ambition of becoming the number one food delivery app going ahead.
“We are looking to become the third biggest aggregator after Swiggy and Zomato. And probably in five years’ time, we want to be the number one food delivery app in India with a zero commission app,” he told BW Retail World. With Waayu clocking over Rs 3.5 crore in revenue in the last fiscal, it eyes achieving over Rs 10 crore in revenue this fiscal.
Fundraising Plans
Currently bootstrapped, Waayu founders are not considering to go the conventional venture capital (VC) way of fundraising, keeping in mind the current market situation. Lande highlighted that the unique proposition of zero commission puts responsibilities on their shoulders to always remain in business, so that all the merchants and consumers can benefit from it.
“We want to directly like we are trying to remain bootstrapped till the time we get on the main board for initial public offering (IPO). So, like our plans are the same, but nevertheless, we are flexible enough that if, at some point of time for expansion purposes, we need investment, we are ready to explore that,” Lande noted.
Expanding Beyond Metros
As the food delivery ecosystem is getting much traction in the non-metro cities in recent times, as consumers’ preferences are shifting towards convenience, Lande explained that the brand is aiming to reach 803 districts as it continues to expand.
Lande remarked, “We want to go to every nook and corner of India. We are targeting 803 districts. So, 25 cities happen to be our year-end milestone for us. We will be expanding to 803 districts. This will be a combination of tier one and two cities.
Feasibility Of 10-minute Delivery Model
While the food delivery ecosystem is flooded with players rushing to deliver the food in 10 minutes, Waayu founders noted that this industry does not require urgency. Advocating for operational efficiency, the founders echoed that the need for efficient production models are a necessity.
“For the food case, you are compromising a lot on the quality, food safety, and particularly it’s not feasible to prepare the food and deliver in 10 minutes. The operational efficiencies need to be there. We believe that you should fast-track the process, optimise the process, but not keep some constraint of five and 10 minutes,” Kotgire explained.
Scope For Scalability
While the business model seeks to provide the restaurants a relief from the commission pressures, the founders are confident that the model is beneficial for them as well when it comes to scalability. Lande explained that as they plan to onboard over a lakh restaurants by FY26, the numbers will make a ‘huge difference’.
“Right now, restaurants are under tremendous pressure with the commission model. With this, it gives us a very fast edge to onboard restaurants…. So, though Rs 2,000 looks like a small amount at a facial level, when you talk about the volume of restaurants right now (5,000), which is increasing quite rapidly and where we are planning for a lakh of restaurants to join us. So, that amount into the subscription of Rs 2,000 will make a huge difference,” Lande noted.
16 Plus Product Categories
Explaining that food delivery happens to be the brand’s entry point in the restaurant industry, Kotgire stated that Waayu is coming up with 16 plus products for restaurants alone, as the brand is looking forward to doing a ‘very serious and a strong business’ in the restaurant industry.
“Once we have the restaurants on board, we have 16 plus products for them, which will help them to improve their business or save on the current spending that they have. That gives us lots of options from a monetisation perspective,” he noted.
